Under President Donald Trump‘s trade measures, most steel imports into the US face a 50% tariff. The UK, however, has been granted a lower 25% levy, though imports are typically subject to strict “melt-and-pour” rules requiring the steel to be fully produced within Britain.
The exemption means steel processed at Tata’s Port Talbot plant in Wales and shipped to the US will be treated as UK-origin steel, a company spokesperson said, despite Tata no longer producing primary steel in Britain.
Tata shut the blast furnaces at the facility in 2024 as part of its transition to electric-arc furnace production, leaving the plant temporarily reliant on imported substrate, including material from the company’s Dutch operations.
The company said the arrangement reflects Port Talbot’s “transitional state” ahead of the completion of the new furnaces, which will use electricity to produce steel from scrap metal. The exemption was first reported by Dutch broadcaster BNR, citing Politico.