What steel tariffs reveal about the cost of going it alone
brexit
trade-wars
firms
New modelling with Jun Du finds UK steel tariffs cut imports 20% and raised consumer prices 27%, hitting downstream steel-users far harder than primary steelmakers — coordinating with the EU would pay off.
Using trade data and economic modelling, this piece with Professor Jun Du examines the UK steel tariffs announced in March 2026. It finds the US tariffs already caused steel imports to fall 20% while consumer prices rose around 27%, with 70–80% of the cost passed on to downstream buyers. The UK’s roughly 300,000 downstream steel-using workers carry a heavier burden than its 30,000 primary steelmakers, and the piece argues the UK should coordinate its trade-defence policy with the EU rather than act alone — a joint approach could generate preferential gains worth roughly £482 million a year.
Originally published on UK in a Changing Europe, April 28, 2026.