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Tata Steel has warned that it could be excluded from access without rates to the United States under the United Kingdom’s trade agreement with Washington, putting more than 150 million in annual exports at risk.
The largest steel producer in Great Britain, owner of the vast site of Port Talbot in southern Wales, fears that by virtue of the agreement announced between the United Kingdom and the United States last month, it will no longer be able to export to the United States due to the origin of some of its products.
After closing its two explosions in Port Talbot last year, Tata has been importing steel from its sister plants in India and the Netherlands for processing in the United Kingdom to send customers. However, this could violate the import rules of the United States that require that all steel “melt and pours” in the country that is imported.
Earlier this week, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, exempt British steel manufacturers from a duplication of steel and aluminum rates from the United States from 25 % to 50 percent. The American trade pact last month promised to reduce these rates to zero, but it has not yet been agreed when this will come into force, leaving the industry in limbo. The exact details of the agreement are not yet ended yet.
Rajesh Nair, executive director of Tata Steel UK, said in a statement on Friday that his company was urging the government to “ensure an agreement as soon as possible.”
He said that Tata would need to continue importing steel until his new electric arc oven has been operational since the late 2027. Therefore, it is “critical for our business that melted and poured into the United Kingdom is not a requirement to access steel fees in any future commercial agreement.”
“Although we are currently not melting steel in the United Kingdom, we remain the largest steel producer in the country and our mills continue to transform the imported steel coil and the slab into high -value specialized products that are not available to US producers and, therefore, are essential for our US customers,” he said.
Tata has been warning ministers about the risks for their business for several weeks, according to people familiar with the situation. The company exports more than 150 million steel to the US. UU. Every year, even for packaging products.
The negotiators of the United Kingdom have been trying to ensure a size for Tata. A government official said that the United States conversations were ongoing, adding that the United Kingdom was confident that all British steel producers, including Tata, “would feel the benefit of the agreement.”
The United States is the second most important export market in the United Kingdom for steel after the EU, for a value of approximately 400 million a year.
British officials are also under pressure from Washington to ensure that Chinese steel enters the United States through the United Kingdom, given the Chinese property of British Steel. The United Kingdom government confiscated the control of the second largest steel producer in Great Britain in April.
The Government has defended its commercial agreement with Trump. The United Kingdom, a government spokesman said, was the “first country, and currently the only one, to ensure a commercial agreement with the United States last month and continue committed to the protection of British businesses and jobs in the key sectors, including steel, as part of our change plan.”
The Government “would continue to work with the US. To implement our agreement, which will see US tariffs of 25 percent on steel eliminated.”
