US President Donald Trump has signed a decree on increasing duties on imports of steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%. These changes will come into force on Wednesday, June 5. This was reported by Bloomberg the day before.
The White House explained that the decision to increase duties is related to the need to protect national security. According to Trump, the previous level of duties did not allow the US industry to develop and maintain the necessary production facilities for sustainable development and meet the needs of national defense. Increasing tariffs aimed to reduce the threat of imports of metals and related products.
At the same time, in a new decree, the United States has temporarily liberated the United Kingdom from raising duties. For British steel and aluminum duties will remain at 25% until July 9. This decision was made to give both countries time to conclude new agreements under the Economic Prosperity Agreement (EPD), signed on May 8, 2025.
President Trump noted that the United Kingdom needs a "different attitude" because of changes in trade relations related to the EPD agreement. At the same time, he warned that if London fails to fulfill the obligation under the agreement, tariffs can be increased for British metals after July 9.
The UK government has already announced its intention to negotiate with Washington as soon as possible to cancel duties to ensure unimpeded access to British metallurgy to the US market.
