Starmer says that all options on the table to meet Trumps prices

Sir Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom would keep the reprisal measures option after Donald Trump struck steel and aluminum imports with 25%prices.

Jobs could be at risk in the British steel industry besieged after the United Kingdom has failed to obtain an exemption from the world prices of American presidents on metal imports.

The European Union responded by announcing trade countermeasures, hitting American goods with reprisals, but the Prime Minister resisted calls in the United Kingdom to immediately retaliate.

To the questions of the Prime Ministers, Sir Keir said: I am disappointed to see the world rates in relation to steel and aluminum.

We will adopt a pragmatic approach.

The United Kingdom is negotiating an economic agreement that covers and will include prices if we succeed, he told deputies.

But we will keep all the options on the table.

Sir Keirs' comments came in response to the Liberal Democratic leader SIR Ed Davey, who asked that the United Kingdom is more robust with the American president as the Europeans and as the Canadians.

The government said that around 5% of steel exports to the United Kingdom and 6% of volume aluminum exports go to the United States, although commercial organizations for the two industries claim an underestimation of the extent of expeditions across the Atlantic.

This decision is the last blow for a steel industry, which has experienced thousands of job losses in recent years due to problems including global competition, high energy costs and the transition to clean technologies.

The prices entered into force at 4 am GMT and raised a flat service on steel and aluminum entering America at 25%.

The European Commission said that the price countermeasures, which would affect around 26 billion euros (around 22 billion) of EU exports, will be presented in April.

The targeted measures include not only steel and aluminum, but also motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans with prices that also strike products that are important in the main republican states.

The United States is the second largest export market in British Steel Industries behind the European Union.

Trade Body UK Steel said that in 2024, the United Kingdom had exported 180,000 tonnes of semi-finished steel and finished in the United States, worth 370 million, or 7% of total UKS steel exports in volume and 9% in value.

Exports include the specialized steel used by the US Navy on its submarines, the government arguing that prices will increase costs for American taxpayers, in order to persuade Trump to change CAP.

The aluminum industry said the American market represents 10% of exports worth 225 million.

Gareth Stace, Managing Director of UK Steel, marked the moving of extremely disappointing Trump administrations.

He added: President Trump must surely admit that the United Kingdom is an ally, not an enemy. Our steel sector is not a threat to the United States, but a partner of key customers, sharing the same values ​​and objectives in the fight against global overcapacity and the fight against unfair trade.

These prices could not arrive at a worse moment for the British steel industry, while we are fighting with high energy costs and moderate demand at home, against an increasingly protectionist global landscape.

What could be more, the EU also goes ahead with restrictive commercial actions that will amplify the impact of American prices.

Nadine Bloxsome, Director General of Trade Body, the aluminum federation, said: the application of American rates today is a critical moment for the United Kingdom industry in aluminum.

Although direct impacts are already felt by reduced American orders and scrap export pressure pressures, the additional risk of trading diversion due to EU countermeasures creates an even more serious challenge.

We fear that without proactive backup, the United Kingdom could face a low-cost import influx, threatening the competitiveness and stability of our domestic market.

The steel industry unions have warned that jobs may be in danger due to prices.

The deputy secretary general of the Community Union, Alasdair McDiamid, said: These American prices on the exports of British steel are extremely damaging and threaten jobs.

For the United States, it is also self-deficit because the United Kingdom is one of the main suppliers of specialized steel products required by their defense and aerospace sectors.

Unite Secretary General Sharon Graham said: our government must act decisively to protect the steel industry and its workers following the announcement of American prices.

It is a question of national security. Steel must be immediately designated as a critical national infrastructure to protect it properly.