Some relief for steelmakers but UK businesses still face tariff dilemmaspublished at 10:17 British Summer Time 4 June

10:17 BST 4 June

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

Image source, Getty Images

A sigh of relief- or at least some breathing space - for those responsible for selling about £400m worth of steel products to the US.

However, steelmakers still face higher tariffs than they did at the start of the year - as do the vast majority of goods sold from the UK to the US.

Steel makes up less than 1% of our exports to America. Almost £60bn worth of British goods in total went to the US in 2024, most of that will still attract a tariff of 10% this year, despite the recent trade accord between the two nations.

And, as President Trump‘s dissatisfaction with his country’s trade imbalance with the rest of the world persists, that levy is likely to remain.

That means exporters of many items around the country continue to face the dilemma of absorbing those extra costs themselves (which could impact jobs) or in their supply chains - or risk lost sales by passing them on to American consumers.

Image source, PA Media

We can bring you the latest from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is currently speaking in Greater Manchester, ahead of next week's Spending Review.

She says, as part of the government's economic strategy, it is forging "three new major trade deals to save and create jobs".

These deals are with India, the US and the EU, she says, "covering steel, manufacturing and agriculture".

As a reminder, the UK and US agreed a trade deal that would reduce or remove some levies on 8 May but it is yet to be implemented.

Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest tariff-related updates from Reeves's statement.

Dearbail Jordan
Senior business and economics reporter

The UK might be on a slightly better footing in terms of US tariffs than other countries (for now) but no-one will escape their impact.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecasts that global economic growth will slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% this year, and next, due to a "significant increase in trade barriers".

Just three months ago, the international policy group was predicting worldwide growth of 3.1%.

"We are forecasting basically a downgrade for almost everybody," Alvaro Pereira, the OECD's chief economist told the BBC. "We'll have a lot less growth and job creation than we had forecasted in the past."

A few hours before the OECD published its report, Trump wrote on social media: "Because of Tariffs, our Economy is BOOMING!"

But, the latest official data showed the US economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.2% in the first three months of this year, the first contraction since 2022.

Image source, EPA

Oliver Smith
Senior business producer

Image source, Getty

Despite the temporary exemption from the 50% tariffs, there is still much concern across the UK sector about the existing 25% tariff and uncertainty around the US-UK deal signed last month.

Yesterday Tata UK, the country’s biggest steelmaker, told the Business Select Committee there were "huge levels of uncertainty".

"Where do we go next? What’s the future for our business?" Tata Director Russell Codling said.

"We’ve got long-standing arrangements with our customers in the United States."

Andy Richardson from Special Melted Products, a specialist steel manufacturer in Sheffield, emphasised the need for speed on the US-UK deal.

"Special melted products have basically had a complete cessation of activity of orders in the USA," he said, adding that business in Europe has also been significantly affected.

"We are losing business rapidly."

George Drakos, a director of leading UK aluminium manufacturer Bridgnorth Aluminium in Shropshire, told MPs the continued uncertainty, particularly around quotas, meant they have temporarily stopped exporting certain products to the US.

"We have diverted all our US business elsewhere [...] the 25% tariffs is not something that can work in our line of industry."

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

The US remains the UK's biggest single trading partner (in terms of individual countries) - buying almost £200bn of British exports.

The UK's biggest goods exports by value last year were cars and pharmaceuticals - hence why any tariff exemptions for those areas are important.

But there are many more categories - from food to scientific equipment - which, in total, account for the majority of goods exports.

Two-thirds of what the UK sells to the US is services - from advertising to banking - which are unaffected by tariffs. The growing importance of this makes maintaining close ties key.

Overall, the UK sells as much, broadly, to the US as the US sells to the UK.

Image source, PA Media

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says she is "really confident" in the ability and determination of the UK government to implement the trade deals they have agreed on.

"We were the first country in the world to do a trade deal with the US, which is really good news," she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"What we need to do as a government is to get that trade deal implemented. We’ll be bringing forward the legislation to parliament to ensure that that happens," she says.

She adds that the government is doing "everything we can" to protect business owners from global economic headwinds.

Dearbail Jordan
Senior Business and Economics Reporter

The FTSE 100 barely budged when it opened at 08:00 this morning - perhaps investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to US tariffs on UK steel and aluminium.

The stock market index fluttered between gains and losses first thing - it is currently a little lower at 8,783.04. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 is up 0.27%.

We know that the UK has been exempted from Trump's doubling of tariffs to 50%, and it should avoid a 25% when a deal is finally signed with the US.

But that's not scheduled to happen for a few weeks and, as we've seen, there's no certainty when it comes to Donald Trump and tariffs.

The UK exemption and ultimate deal is not a free lunchpublished at 08:32 British Summer Time 4 June

08:32 BST 4 June

Simon Jack
Business editor

There is now an uncertain period when businesses on both sides of the Atlantic don’t know if the tariff will be zero or 50% in five weeks' time – which anecdotally is having a corrosive effect on business.

There is no reason to assume it won’t. The government said that Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer agreed that both would work fast so customers in US and UK benefit from the deal.

However, there is a second order effect that international steel that was headed for the US may now be diverted to UK markets undercutting steel makers in their domestic market and the industry wants the government to take action to prevent that.

The UK exemption and ultimate deal is not a free lunch. The UK cut tariffs on some US beef products and ethanol which is creating a crisis in the UK ethanol market which in turn is a big customer of wheat farmers.

It’s possible that UK government efforts to protect these industries will be viewed by the US as backsliding on the deal they struck with the UK.

A reminder that these deals have complex and sometimes under-appreciated knock-on effects.

Relief for UK trade officials but new clock ticking on dealpublished at 08:26 British Summer Time 4 June

08:26 BST 4 June

Simon Jack
Business editor

It’s hard to argue the UK exemption from the doubling on tariffs on imported steel from 25 to 50% is not good news.

It was not a given that the UK would get this exemption despite having done a deal on 8 May to reduce tariffs to zero.

That deal is not yet in force and speaking to steel industry leaders and government officials right up to the announcement of this last night, their working assumption was that the UK would be in the same boat as everyone else facing tariffs of 50% until that deal was finalised.

There was a palpable sense of relief from UK trade officials.

Having said that there is a new clock ticking. Last night’s announcement contained a provision that if the deal is not finalised by 9 July, the UK will be set at 50%.

Image source, PA Media

We can bring you some more now from Gareth Stace, chief executive of UK Steel, who has just spoken to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Stace says there is still an "enormous amount of uncertainty" in the steel industry, as it can take three weeks to export steel to US customers.

UK steel exporters' customers have been cancelling or indefinitely pausing their orders following US President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs to 50%, he says.

He adds that the indirect impact of steel moving away from US markets might be a surge in imports to the UK, which could displace domestic production.

He calls on the government to tighten up the UK steel safeguard and ensure the industry can see what's coming down the line, "to make sure we don't suddenly find ourselves with a flood of steel that can put us out of business".

Gareth Stace, the chief executive of UK Steel, says the steel industry can "breathe a temporary sigh of relief" this morning.

"What we really want to get to is those tariffs removed," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

"We hope that a deal can be made soon enough, and certainly before 9 July, which is the next deadline in our tariff story," he says.

US President Donald Trump said that the UK needed "different treatment" on tariffs on steel and aluminium because of the US-UK Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD), signed between the two countries on 8 May.

However, Trump later added that the US might increase the tariff on the UK "on or after 9 July 2025" if it "determines that the United Kingdom has not complied with relevant aspects of the EPD".

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

Major Asian stock markets have taken Trump's signing of an executive order to double tariffs on steel and aluminium in their stride today.

Benchmark indexes in big steel producing and car making countries like Japan, South Korea, India and China are all trading higher.

The most marked investor reaction to the latest metals import taxes came on Monday after the US president had announced plans to make the move on Friday.

At the start of the trading week, shares in steelmakers and car firms across the region fell sharply.

The UK's carve-out in the executive order comes after Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris on Tuesday.

A spokesperson said the government was "pleased that as a result of our agreement with the US, UK steel will not be subject to these additional tariffs".

"We will continue to work with the US to implement our agreement, which will see the 25% US tariffs on steel removed," they say, adding the government is "committed to protecting British business and jobs".

But the Conservatives call the order a "fresh tariff blow" and accuse Labour of leaving "businesses in limbo".

Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: "Labour's botched negotiations have left businesses in limbo and this country simply cannot afford their continuing failure."

Image source, Getty Images

The UK and the US reached a deal over tariffs on some goods last month, removing levies on some of the UK's exports, including cars, steel and aluminium.

But it leaves a 10% duty in place on most goods from the UK.

Under the deal, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports into the US that came into effect in March is scrapped.

However, the White House said it would impose a quota on the "most favoured nation rates for UK steel and aluminium and certain derivative steel and aluminium products".

It is currently unclear how much of these products the UK will be able to export to the US under this quota system without paying more.

It is also unclear whether the scrapping of tariffs will apply to steel derivative products and whether only steel melted and poured in the UK will benefit.

The UK exports a relatively small amount of steel and aluminium to the US, about £700m in total.

However, the tariffs also cover products made with steel and aluminium, including things such as gym equipment, furniture and machinery.

These are worth much more, about £2.2bn, or about 5% of UK exports to the US last year.

• 10 February: Trump announces 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US - the new duties kicked in on 12 March
• 2 April: Trump announces most countries - including the UK - will face a 10% "baseline" tariff on all goods sent to the US
• 8 May: UK and US agree to reduce or remove some levies
• 4 June: US raises import taxes for steel and aluminium to 50% - the levy temporarily remains at 25% for the UK

The UK has been temporarily spared from US President Donald Trump's executive order doubling steel and aluminium tariffs from 25% to 50%

The order signed by Trump raises import taxes for US-based firms buying from other countries from Wednesday - but the levy remains at 25% for the UK.

The order depends on the UK and US tariff deal signed last month, which would see steel and aluminium levies axed, however, the agreement is yet to come into force, meaning UK steel exporters face tariffs until then and could face the higher amount if the pact falters.

The UK government says it is "committed to protecting British business and jobs", but the Conservatives call the order a "fresh tariff blow".

The UK government spokesperson adds it will "continue to work with the US to implement our agreement, which will see the [tariffs] removed", with the legislation implementing the deal to be presented in Parliament "in due course".

We'll bring you updates, reaction and analysis throughout the day, so stay with us.