On 3 June 2025, US president Donald Trump issued a proclamation which confirmed that the 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminium from outside the US would increase to 50% as of this morning [4 June 2025].
This 25% tariff rate was introduced in February, when Trump took action to bring an end to loopholes and exemptions on US steel tariffs, restoring a true 25% tariff on steel whilst elevating the tariff on aluminium to 25%.
Now, this tariff rate has doubled, but according to Trump’s latest proclamation, one nation is exempt – the UK.
This is because, Trump says, he has determined that “it is necessary and appropriate” to allow for the implementation of the UK-US ‘Economic Prosperity Deal’ announced on 8 May, and to accordingly provide “different treatment” for imports of steel and aluminium articles, and their derivatives, from the UK.
His proclamation confirms that the tariff applied to imports of these goods from the UK will remain at 25%. It does, however, note that the president might increase this tariff to 50% “if he determines that the UK has not complied with relevant aspects of the Economic Prosperity Deal”.
During today’s Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer faced criticism from leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey about the 25% tariff remaining and not being reduced to zero, as well as Trump, as Davey described it, “threatening” the UK government with the 50% rate should a deal not be agreed within five weeks.
Starmer responded by saying: “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.”
He suggested that news of a complete removal of tariffs on UK steel could be expected in the next “couple of weeks”.
The UK steel industry has been following White House updates on tariffs closely as the US is one of its largest markets, having imported £388 million worth of UK steel in 2023, according to the International Steel Statistics Bureau.
Prior to the announcement of the UK-US trade deal, manufacturer British Steel launched a consultation on the closure of two of its facilities in Scunthorpe, which BBC News reported would have the potential to affect between 2,000 and 2,700 jobs.
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News of this latest tariff increase comes after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ global tariffs were ruled to be beyond the president’s authority by the US Court of International Trade. The Trump administration requested that the US Court of Appeals temporarily pause this ruling, and this request was granted, with a date of 5 June set for a hearing on the ruling.
In a post on social media platform Truth Social on 1 June, Trump wrote: “If the courts somehow rule against us on tariffs, which is not expected, that would allow other countries to hold our nation hostage with their anti-American tariffs that they would use against us. This would mean the economic ruination of the United States of America!”
