UK poised to ease steel tariffs as manufacturers warn of costs

Ministers hope to finalise details of a reprieve for certain industries. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Ministers hope to finalise details of a reprieve for certain industries. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian UK poised to ease steel tariffs as manufacturers warn of costs Exemptions being considered after March announcement of measures to support domestic steel production Ministers are expected to drop some planned tariffs on foreign steel after UK manufacturers said the measures would significantly increase their costs. Representatives of the Department for Business and Trade are meeting leaders of steel trading business groups on Wednesday and Thursday with a view to finalising details of a reprieve for certain industries. The government announced in March that it was doubling tariffs on steel imports to 50% and reducing quotas 60% in an attempt to save UK producers. Unions attack ‘year-long delay’ for Tata Steel furnace’s grid connection in south Wales The new tariffs and quotas must be in place by 1 July when the current safeguards, negotiated while the UK was still part of the EU, expire. The UK is also fighting to mitigate a similar reduction in quotas and increase in tariffs being planned , as both sides opted to limit imports to protect their own industries against cheaper imports from China, Vietnam and elsewhere. The British government already announced a three-month reprieve or “transition period” on import duties for the steel buyers, and some say this could be extended to 12 months. Others say it is more likely that the government will formalise tariff exemptions for specific sectors and companies that import steel not produced domestically. UK Steel said it had submitted “comprehensive proposals” to remove certain steel commodities from the tariff list to protect industries that could not source those products at all, or in sufficient quantities, in the UK. “We understand other sectors have done likewise to inform the government’s final policy and we continue to have extensive discussions with impacted manufacturers,” a spokesperson said. About 70% of the UK’s steel is imported; the government safeguards are aimed at reducing that figure to 50%. Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel, said it was vital that ministers struck a balance between protecting the broader manufacturing sector and the steel plants facing the EU tariff threat. He said the provisional safeguards were already having the desired effect of increasing domestic supplies, with “steelmakers ramping up capacity, creating jobs”, and more announcements of “mothballed capacity returning to production in the near future”.