The government has rushed forward plans for a £2.5bn investment in the UK steel industry after Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminium into the US.
The director general of industry body UK Steel, Gareth Stace, said last week that the US action would stifle UK exports and damage Britain’s balance of trade at a time when global protectionism was on the rise.
The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will publish a green paper entitled Plan for Steel on Sunday – several weeks before schedule – in a sign of how Trump’s tariffs are sending shock waves through a UK government desperate to kickstart economic growth.
Last week, Heathrow delivered welcome news to British Steel, and the industry nationwide, by pledging to use UK-made steel in its largest-ever investment programme, and indicated it would also do so if and when the controversial proposal for a third runway gets the official go-ahead.
Part of the aim is to ensure that a severely weakened UK steel industry is healthy enough to act as primary supplier in key infrastructure projects in this country that lie at the heart of the government’s drive for growth.
