Steel tariff loophole puts 30,000 fabrication jobs on the line

The UK’s steel fabrication sector has warned that up to 30,000 jobs could disappear over the next seven years unless ministers rethink new steel tariffs due to come into force on 1 July.

Industry leaders claim the measures are creating a major loophole that will penalise UK fabricators while allowing overseas competitors to ship in fabricated steelwork tariff-free.

The Construction Leadership Council and British Construction Steelwork Association has stepped up lobbying efforts ahead of the introduction of the new tariff and quota regime, warning that it risks undermining the UK’s 60,000-strong fabricated steel sector while doing little to support domestic manufacturing.

Under the proposals, imported steel sections will face quotas and tariffs, but fabricated steelwork will not.

Fabricators argue this creates a perverse incentive for overseas suppliers to undertake minimal processing before exporting products into Britain.

One steelwork contractor told the Enquirer: “Overseas firms can simply screw a plate to a beam or drill a hole in a section and import it as fabricated steelwork, avoiding the tariff regime altogether.”

The concern mirrors evidence submitted to Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee, which has now written to the Trade Secretary Peter Kyle calling for an urgent rethink.

The committee heard that planned tariffs, which will hit all products from structural steelwork to decking and bolts, already led to contracts being paused or cancelled, a rise in imported fabricated goods and growing concerns over the competitiveness of UK-based fabrication businesses.

Industry leaders say the situation is being exacerbated by rising global steel prices linked to tensions in the Middle East over the recent months.

According to evidence gathered by the CLC’s steel tariffs working group, structural steel prices have already risen sharply, while volatility is making it increasingly difficult for contractors to price work accurately.

Live construction projects are reportedly seeing cost increases of between 14% and 18%.

Steelwork contractors also fear supply shortages because several steel grades and section sizes required by the construction sector are either unavailable from UK mills or produced in insufficient volumes.

The CLC said there was a real risk that the safeguards, intended to support steelmaking, could instead accelerate the offshoring of fabrication work and hollow out a key part of the UK’s manufacturing base.

As a result, it is calling for fabricated and semi-finished steelwork to be brought within the tariff regime from day one.

The group is also urging ministers to review product categories where UK manufacturing capacity does not exist and to bring forward a planned review of the measures from 12 months to six months.

A source told the Enquirer: “There was a key meeting between Government and industry representative late last week but Ministers failed to offer any reassurances about a policy rethink.

“This is going all the way to the wire and we need the prime minister to intervene and call for more time for a rethink or else the industry will be hit by another disastrous policy decision that will cost jobs”

Steel tariff loophole puts 30,000 fabrication jobs on the line | Construction Enquirer News