Steel Tariffs

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I always agree with my noble friend. We have listened carefully to downstream steel users and designed these measures to balance manufacturers’ needs with the imperative to protect domestic steel production. Imports will continue to play an important role, and transitional arrangements will provide flexibility for some of the contracts that I have identified earlier. Delaying implementation would leave the UK exposed to damaging global overcapacity while our international partners act. We will continue to engage closely with the European Union as discussions progress.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the French economist Frédéric Bastiat said that the distinguishing feature of a good economist is looking beyond the visible and seeing the secondary consequences. There are some 34,000 people employed in the steel sector in this country; one can argue about whether protectionism will help even them. Let us look at the numbers in the steel-using industries: 183,000 people work in the automotive sector, 452,000 in agriculture and 2.8 million in construction. These sectors either cannot buy the kind of steel they need other than through imports, or cannot get the volume from the UK alone. Will the Minister tell us what assessment has been made of the impact of pushing up the cost of these imports, especially in the north-east and the West Midlands, which are hubs for the aeronautic and automotive sectors?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I say to the noble Lord that the steel sector is a very important part of our industrial strategy. That is why the Government are taking steps to protect the steel industry. It is not just another commodity; it underpins everything we do, including in the defence, infrastructure, manufacturing and energy sectors. We are intervening to protect our domestic production and we are protecting jobs up and down the country; whether it is in the Midlands or elsewhere, we are doing what is required of a Government to protect jobs.