Jobs could be at risk in the beleaguered British steel industry after President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tax on U.S. imports.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the global tariffs on steel and aluminium imports were “disappointing” but the UK was not retaliating, unlike the European Union which immediately responded with countermeasures on U.S. goods.
Ministers insisted they were taking a pragmatic approach and avoiding knee-jerk reactions after last-ditch efforts to persuade the U.S. president to grant an exemption for the UK failed.
The government said around 5 percent of UK steel exports and 6 percent of aluminium exports by volume go to the United States, although trade bodies for both industries claim that is an underestimate of the scale of shipments across the Atlantic….