The UK government is working to prevent the country's largest steel producer, Tata Steel, from being deprived of duty–free access to the US market under the Keir Starmer trade agreement with Donald Trump. This is reported by The Guardian.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week that he hopes that his agreement with the United States, which has been agreed but not signed, will enter into force in just a couple of weeks. Since June 4, Donald Trump has increased duties on steel and aluminum imports to the United States from 25% to 50%. Duties on metals imported from Britain will remain at the same level of 25%, with possible changes or quotas from July 9, depending on the status of the agreement between the parties.
However, Indian Tata Steel, which runs the Port Talbot steel mill, may be excluded from the deal, the company's executives fear, due to the origin of some of its products. The company annually exports more than $100 million worth of goods to the American market.
In October 2024, Tata Steel shut down the last blast furnace at the enterprise due to the planned transition to EAF. The company currently imports steel from its subsidiaries in India and Europe for processing at Port Talbot to ship to customers. This fact may violate American requirements – Washington insists that steel be "smelted and bottled" inside the country in order to qualify for tariff exemption.
The British side tried to get an exception for Tata, a government source said, and is confident in the possibility of an agreement that will protect the company. However, the insider noted that the negotiations were "difficult."
The United Kingdom has also come under pressure from the United States regarding British Steel, which belongs to the Chinese Jingye group, the newspaper notes. The government used emergency legislation to take control of the Scunthorpe facility. However, Americans are concerned that China's involvement in British Steel may allow Beijing to use the company as a "backdoor" to the United States for Chinese products.
It should be noted that Tata Steel will begin implementing its modern electric arc furnace project in Port Talbot in July 2025, with production expected to begin by 2027. In the annual report for fiscal year 2024/2025, the company confirmed that key project permits have now been received.
