It’s too late for tariffs to save British steel

Cheap Chinese imports will flood the market. Even more jobs will be lost, and the country’s industrial base will be even weaker than it already is. UK Steel, the lobby group for the industry, has today called for tariffs to stop the last remaining steel mills being wiped out by unfair competition from lower cost rivals. It would hardly be any great surprise if a protectionist, union-dominated Labour government agreed to that. There is, however, just one snag. The steel industry has already long been neglected – and there is no point in trying to rescue it now.

Only a week after the last conventional blast furnace was closed at Port Talbot in Wales, the steel industry is warning that the outlook is about to get even worse. It fears a flood of cheap Chinese steel once current restrictions are lifted in 2026.