Keir Starmer has been warned that UK jobs are at risk without a better trade deal with Donald Trump that removes tariffs from the beleaguered steel industry.
President Trump and the PM finally signed off a US-UK agreement to slash trade barriers on goods when they met at the G7 in Canada on Monday.
But missing from the deal was the steel industry, which still faces levies of a whopping 25 per cent on goods entering the US.
Industry experts and unions have now called for these to be scrapped as soon as possible, amid warnings they are a threat to jobs and livelihoods.
But there are fears negotiations could drag on into the autumn after the transport secretary said work to get tariffs removed will continue in the coming “days, weeks and months”.
Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary of the Community union, said it was “absolutely vital” to secure a deal on steel as quickly as possible.
“Our steel producers and their US customers need an end to the current state of uncertainty to allow normal business to resume,” he said.
“Crucially, we must see a full exemption for all UK steel exports to the US – without that guarantee some of our leading steel businesses could be left behind, with a threat to jobs and livelihoods.”
Gareth Stace, Director-General, UK Steel said the sector should also benefit “imminently… from a tariff rate cut similar to that which the automotive and aerospace industries will enjoy in seven days.”
The government said the two leaders had pledged to “make progress towards 0% tariffs on core steel products”, but the Chinese ownership of British Steel could be a sticking point, as an executive order signed by Mr Trump suggests the US wants assurances that the metal originates in the UK.
After signing it, the US President was asked whether steel tariffs would be eliminated, to which he replied: “We’re gonna let you have that information in a little while.”
In April, parliament gave the government emergency powers to take control of British Steel and continue production after Chinese owners Jingye proposed shutting the Scunthorpe site’s two blast furnaces and other key steelmaking operations.
But its future is still uncertain.
The uncertainty comes as a £500 million five-year deal has been struck between Network Rail and British Steel, which Ms Alexander said was a “vote of confidence”.
British Steel is to supply 337,000 tonnes of rail track, with a further 80-90,000 tonnes to be provided by other European manufacturers.
The Network Rail contract will start on July 1 and is set to provide the company with 80 per cent of its rail needs.
Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, launched a consultation in March which it said would affect between 2,000 and 2,700 jobs, despite months of negotiations and a £500 million co-investment offer from the Government.
The Scunthorpe plant has been producing steel for Britain’s railways since 1865.
The Network Rail agreement is the first major public procurement since the Government’s emergency legislation was passed.
Network Rail’s group director for railway business services Clive Berrington said: “We are committed to buying British where it makes economic sense to do so and British Steel remain extremely competitive in the provision of rail and will remain our main supplier in the years ahead.”
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national officer at the GMB union, said it was a “crucial first step in securing the future of our steel industry” and urged ministers to make sure British Steel has a “constant flow of orders” from other infrastructure projects.
No 10 said it wanted to implement a further deal to remove tariffs on steel “as soon as possible”.
