A metal sector trade body warns that thousands of manufacturing jobs and tens of companies could still be lost in the domestic supply chain if the Government does not reconsider its approach to steel safeguarding.
The stark warning comes from The Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM), which has seen its 200+ members severely impacted from tariffs designed to protect parts of the UK steel production sector that are currently ill equipped to meet actual domestic demand.
This means tier1s and sub-contractors to automotive, aerospace, construction and general engineering have been paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to import their ‘Category 12’ steel – including critical quality and performance bar and section – from European mills, as the quarterly tariff-free quotas are running out within a month.
Recent pleas from the CBM to remove engineering metals under the 7228 code has seen the Government act, almost doubling the available quotas for this category before the 25% tariff kicks in.
https://www.qimtek.co.uk/news/engineering-capacity/steel-tariffs-threaten-uk-jobs