TURNBERRY, Scotland — U.S. tariffs on British steel makers will come down “pretty soon,” President Donald Trump has said.
The U.S. committed to slashing tariffs on British steel and aluminum from 25 percent to zero as part of its Economic Prosperity Deal back in May.
But the implementation of the pact has been stymied by complex American trade rules that require steel imported to the U.S. to be melted and poured in the U.K. to qualify for tariff relief.
In response to a question from POLITICO on when the deal would be enforced at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, Trump said it would happen “pretty soon.”
He added: “You have no idea. These people are tough negotiators. But we’re a big buyer of steel. We’re going to make our own steel; we’re going to make our own aluminum, for the most part. But we buy a lot of aluminum from here and a lot of steel, too.”
Starmer confirmed that the tariff cut was “already covered in the deal that we’ve agreed,” adding “we’re just doing the implementation of that.”
When the U.S. raised tariffs on the metal imports to 50 percent at the start of June, the U.K.’s tariff rate remained at 25 percent thanks to the May deal.
According to UK Steel, which represents the British steel industry, the U.K. currently exports around 200,000 tonnes of steel per year to the U.S., worth over £400 million. It described the imposition of U.S. tariffs on British steelmakers as a “devastating blow” that would stifle exports.
Trump said earlier on Monday that he is “going to look at” a blanket 10 percent tariff on most U.K. goods.
Pressed on whether he would consider any reduction to the 10 percent reciprocal tariff rate on the U.K. — the lowest of any U.S. trading partner to date — the president appeared buoyant.
“We are going to take a look at it,” he replied, adding, “we want to make the prime minister happy.”
The U.S. president also hinted that he could take a softer approach to the U.K. on pharmaceutical tariffs than some other countries.
“You … have a good pharmaceuticals business,” he said. “We’ll be dealing with you on pharmaceuticals also. And we certainly feel a lot better with your country working on pharmaceuticals for America than some of the other countries.”
The post Cuts to US tariffs on British steel coming ‘pretty soon,’ says Trump appeared first on Politico.
