Government urged to act now on fabricated steel tariffs

REIDsteel managing director Simon Boyd OBE demanded immediate government action on fabricated steel tariffs when he spoke at the Houses of Parliament.

He called for a levy to be included immediately within the steel tariffs framework to protect the industry and hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Simon issued the call at a British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) summit at the House of Commons in Westminster.

It was attended by leading steel sector figures, businesses, including British Steel, UK Steel, tier one contractors and MPs including Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash, Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley MP Antonia Bance and Minister for Reindustrialisation Blair McDougall.

Currently, overseas fabricated steel - which has been engineered through cutting, welding or assembly for steel structures - can enter the UK tariff free.

This means foreign competitors with lower costs and government subsidies can undercut UK firms. It also risks fabrication work being offshored overseas from the UK for supply to customers either back in the UK or elsewhere in the world - encouraging imports while undermining domestic manufacturing.

Simon said: “We cannot have successful steelmaking in the UK without having a strong and healthy steel manufacturing and fabrication sector: each needs the other to survive.

“The tariffs framework and lack of a targeted tariff barrier to stop fabricated steel from entering the UK market from China or anywhere else in the world has opened a gulf which has the potential to destroy our industry.

“Tariffs to protect steel manufacturing and construction in the UK need to be levied now to protect our industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on it directly and through the supply chain.”

Simon, who is vice-president of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and regional chairman of the Jobs Foundation, also spoke at the BCSA event about such issues as British Steel, unnecessary regulations, crippling energy costs, nett zero, taxes and access to affordable finance.

Firms such as REIDsteel fabricate steel to manufacture steel framed buildings such as commercial property, aircraft hangars, airport terminals, warehouses, churches, security structures and stadia.

It has made British Steel its primary supplier of the steel products it uses.