Britain says retaliation is possible over new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed disappointment Wednesday over the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports, and said a retaliatory response was possible.

During his weekly questioning in the House of Commons, Starmer said his government was taking a “pragmatic approach” but ”we will keep all options on the table.”

Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, said negotiations with the Trump administration over a bilateral trade deal were ongoing.

Starmer was responding to a question from the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, who said the U.K. should be taking a “more robust” approach with the U.S. president “like the Europeans and like the Canadians.”

Britain is not part of the European Union, which Wednesday announced import taxes on American goods, ranging from steel and aluminum to bourbon, peanut butter and jeans in response to Trump’s move.

Starmer has worked to build strong ties with President Donald Trump, in hope of avoiding the tariffs levied on many other U.S. trading partners. After a meeting last month at the White House, Trump and Starmer said their governments would work on sealing a long-elusive U.S.-U.K. trade deal.

The tariffs are a new blow for Britain’s once-mighty steel industry, which has shrunk dramatically from its 1970s peak and now accounts for 0.1% of the economy. Thousands of jobs are due to be lost at the country’s biggest steelworks, at Port Talbot in Wales, as owner Tata Steel tries to make the unprofitable plant leaner and greener.

Trade body UK Steel said that in 2024, Britain exported 180,000 metric tons (198,000 U.S. tons) of steel to the United States, about 7% of the U.K.’s total steel exports by volume and 9% by value. The aluminum industry says the U.S. market accounts for 10% of U.K. exports.

Without pushing for an immediate retaliatory response, Unite, the U.K.’s biggest union, said the government should use U.K.-produced steel in public sector projects.

“Our government must act decisively to protect the steel industry and its workers following the announcement of U.S. tariffs,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said. “This is a matter of national security.”

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Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Pan Pylas in London contributed.