Recommendation 7

The Department has not addressed the concerns of businesses who are affected adversely by the new tariff regime that started on 1 July 2026. The Department introduced tariffs on imported steel without detailed information about which steel products can be sourced from the UK. For example, pipes of all sizes are treated as a single 6 product, despite not every size being produced by UK steel companies. This risks steel manufacturers having to pay tariffs on types of steel that they cannot avoid importing. There is a risk that businesses reliant on these products will face higher costs, which could result in smaller firms going out of business or companies moving production overseas, which would be counter to the aims of the steel strategy and the government’s objective of driving growth. The Department said it would not undertake a substantive review of the tariffs for a year, but this leaves businesses bearing the cost of a dysfunctional system. While the Department cannot mitigate all the costs to businesses, we are concerned that it has not responded with sufficient urgency to credible evidence of unintended impacts on UK manufacturers. recommendation a. The Department should urgently establish a formal route for businesses to raise concerns about the new tariff regime. b. Within six months, the Department should work with industry to develop a more detailed product classification system and set out how it will monitor and mitigate unintended impacts on UK manufacturers. 7 1 The taxpayer support to British Steel Introduction