By Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday he was confident that tariffs on U.S. imports of British steel would be reduced to zero within a “couple of weeks”, avoiding a July deadline which could see the levies jump to 50%.
Starmer and U.S. President Donald Trump last month agreed a tariff relief deal that cuts levies on steel, aluminium and car imports to the United States, in return for tariff reductions on beef and ethanol, but it has yet to be implemented.
On Tuesday Britain avoided a 50% tariff introduced by Trump on steel imports to the U.S., with the tariff staying at the current 25% pending the implementation of the bilateral deal.
But Trump’s proclamation contained a provision that British steel imports could be subject to the 50% tariff from July 9 if the yet-to-be implemented deal has not been complied with.
Asked if Trump was changing the terms of the previously agreed deal and threatening Britain with a new deadline, Starmer expressed confidence that the deal would be implemented quickly.
“We have a deal, and we’re implementing it, and within a very short time, I’m very confident we will get those tariffs down in accordance with the deal,” Starmer told lawmakers.
“Let’s come back to this in just a couple of weeks when we’ve implemented it.”
British trade minister Jonathan Reynolds met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday, shortly before Trump’s proclamation. They agreed to work to implement sectoral tariff reductions under the deal as soon as possible.
Industry body UK Steel said Reynolds had acted swiftly to ensure stability in steel trade by avoiding the 50% tariff, but said ongoing uncertainty about timings could put U.S. customers off making orders from Britain.
“The U.S. and UK must urgently turn the May deal into reality to remove the tariffs completely,” said Gareth Stace, UK Steel’s Director-General.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Muvija MEditing by Gareth Jones)
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