UK Steel warns that Trump tariffs would be ‘devastating blow’
UK steelmakers have warned that the imposition of new US tariffs would be “a devastating blow” to the industry, after Donald Trump said he would announce 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US,Gold reached a record high and aluminium prices rose as financial markets were rattled by the US president’s comments, which caused concern in the UK and the EU,Gareth Stace, the director general of the trade body UK Steel, said: “The US is our second-largest export market after the EU,At a time of shrinking demand and high costs, rising protectionism globally, particularly in the US, will stifle our exports and damage over £400m worth of the steel sector’s contribution to the UK’s balance of trade,”Stace said it would be “deeply disappointing” if Trump decided to target UK steel, given its “relatively small production volumes compared to major steel nations”.
He added that there was a danger that other countries could decide to dump steel on the UK market to avoid US tariffs.“The introduction of further US tariffs will inevitably divert global trade flows, with excess steel potentially redirected to the UK market,” he said.UK Steel’s members include Tata, the owner of the vast Port Talbot steelworks, and troubled British Steel, owned by China’s Jingye.Trump is expected to formally announce new tariffs this week.Community, the union for the UK steel industry, said the prospect of fresh duties was extremely concerning and could threaten jobs.
Alasdair McDiarmid, the Community assistant general secretary, said: “For the US it would also be self-defeating as the UK is a leading supplier of specialist steel products required by their defence and aerospace sectors.”The European Commission said: “The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports.We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures.”As investors rushed for a haven for their money, the spot price of gold increased by 1.6% to $2,910 an ounce, above the record high set on Friday.
Gold has been rising in recent weeks amid concerns over the impact of Trump’s policies,It has gained more than 10% since the start of the year, after ending 2024 at $2,623 an ounce,Aluminium prices also rose, as investors worried that the tariffs could lead to supply problems and hit economic growth, which would reduce demand for the metal,The three-month aluminium contract on the London Metal Exchange has gained by 0,3% to $2,635 (£2,122) a tonne.
In London, the FTSE 100 hit a record high as the dollar strengthened against the pound – reaching 8,770.08 points, three points above the previous intraday high set last week.Most companies on the index are large multinationals that earn their revenues in dollars and report profits in sterling.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 jumped more than 0.5% at the open, with the Dow up 246 at 44,550 points.
Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionShares in US steelmakers rose on hopes the tariffs would hit competitors or allow them to raise prices.Cleveland-Cliffs, North America’s largest flat-rolled steel producer, shot up by 16% and Nucor Corporation, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based steelmaker, gained 6%.Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One, the US president said he would announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately, matching the tariff rates levied by other countries.“Very simply, it’s ‘if they charge us, we charge them’,” Trump said.Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam are the biggest sellers of steel into the US, according to government and American Iron and Steel Institute data, while Canada is the main supplier of imported aluminium.
Trump said on Sunday that his administration was examining US treasury debt payments for possible fraud, suggesting that the country could have less debt than thought.According to the US treasury, the US has $36tn of public debt, equal to more than 120% of GDP.Trump said administration officials who had been combing through payment records to identify any wasteful spending had turned their attention to debt payments.“We’re even looking at treasuries,” Trump said.“There could be a problem – you’ve been reading about that – with treasuries, and that could be an interesting problem.
”It was not clear whether Trump was referring to debt service or other government payments made by the treasury department.
Labour peer calls for ‘arrogant’ attorney general to be sacked
An influential Labour peer has called the attorney general Richard Hermer an “arrogant, progressive fool” and called for him to be sacked, exposing a split at the heart of Keir Starmer’s government.Maurice Glasman, the founder of the Blue Labour group that has risen in prominence since Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, urged the prime minister to replace his attorney general.In an interview with the New Statesman, Glasman said of Hermer: “He’s got to go. He is the absolute archetype of an arrogant, progressive fool who thinks that law is a replacement for politics … They talk about the rule of law but what they want is a rule of lawyers.” He also called Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, a “drone for the Treasury”
Labour was told about ‘vile’ WhatsApp group more than a year ago, says councillor
Labour was warned more than a year ago about a “vile” WhatsApp group involving two of the party’s MPs, local councillors and a series of offensive messages, the Guardian has been told.It came as a cycling campaigner said he was “profoundly distressed” to learn that one of the MPs, Andrew Gwynne, joked about him being “mown down” by a lorry.Gwynne was sacked as a health minister on Saturday and suspended by Labour after he was accused of posting messages containing racist and sexist comments. A second Labour MP, Oliver Ryan, was suspended on Monday after he was revealed to be a member of the group, which also featured misogynistic and classist messages.The Guardian has seen previously undisclosed posts in the WhatsApp group, called Trigger Me Timbers, and can reveal that:Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, described a constituent as “an illiterate retard” and a fellow councillor as a “fat middle aged useless thicket”
Local elections delayed is democracy denied | Letters
The cancellation of local elections (Some councillors in England could stay for more than extra year under shake-up plans, 5 February) means that the government and those council leaders who will gain most from the planned reorganisation will not have to face voters to justify the cost to them.The proposed mergers of district councils and splitting up of county councils to form new unitary councils was examined in a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report commissioned by the County Councils Network in 2020. This showed that all the options to create multiple unitary councils were extremely expensive and disruptive.PwC predicted that the loss of economies of scale at county level would cost billions across the country. With local government already on its knees, spending a fortune on a reorganisation to create a more costly alternative is the last thing we need
Benefits system should protect, not punish, vulnerable people | Letters
Frances Ryan underestimates the effect of repeated attacks on benefits claimants and the damage that the potential changes being floated would unleash (As Labour touts more brutal cuts to benefits, how is this different from life under the Tories?, 5 February). As a mental health clinician, I cannot emphasise enough how many relapses have been triggered by the relentless media drumbeat about “cracking down” on benefits. This is not just political rhetoric; it lodges in the psyche, feeding precarity and self-doubt.When the government frames itself as the defender of the public purse at the expense of “fraudulent” claimants, it makes nearly all claimants feel like frauds. To combine this with the terrifying reality of what these speculative reforms could mean – sanctions for those too unwell to comply with back-to-work schemes, and the appalling prospect of removing or gutting the limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) group that overwhelmingly consists of people at substantial risk of mental collapse – is unconscionable
Burnley MP Oliver Ryan suspended by Labour over messages on WhatsApp group
The Labour MP Oliver Ryan has been suspended by the party over his membership and comments on a WhatsApp group that featured offensive messages, including alleged racism and sexism.The party took action against the Burnley MP after the emergence of details about the Trigger Me Timbers group, mainly involving a group of councillors and party activists in Greater Manchester.A Labour spokesperson said: “As part of our WhatsApp group investigation, Oliver Ryan has been administratively suspended as a member of the Labour party.“As soon as this group was brought to our attention, a thorough investigation was immediately launched and this process is ongoing in line with the Labour party’s rules and procedures. Swift action will always be taken where individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of them as Labour party members
Watchdog recommends £2,500 pay rise for UK MPs
MPs should receive a £2,500 pay rise for the next financial year, an increase of 2.8%, the body that recommends their salaries has said.If the pay rise proposed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) goes through, it would raise a backbench MP’s salary from £91,346 to just under £94,000.The year-on-year figure for consumer price index inflation in December was 2.5%, but it is expected to increase as the year goes on
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AI is developing fast, but regulators must be faster | Letters