US Firms’ Tariff Push Threatens to Upend UK/EU Trade Pacts

A new push by American industry for import tariffs is threatening to upend existing trade pacts with the UK and EU. Hundreds of US firms have asked the Commerce Department to add 700 new items, from bicycles to baking trays, to a “steel derivatives” list, which would impose new levies on top of agreed-upon rates.
European manufacturers had already reconciled themselves to baseline tariffs (10% for the UK, 25% for the EU) in their new trade frameworks. They are now expressing fear over a “rolling and growing” list of tariffs that “makes a mockery” of those deals.
The core problem is that this new levy would be in addition to the agreed-upon rates. Goods could face a baseline tax on their full value plus a new, separate tax on their steel content, effectively a “double tax” that European exporters had not anticipated.
The domestic push comes from firms like Guardian Bikes and Red Gold. They argue they are being undercut by foreign competitors, often from China, who can import finished goods without paying the same high tariffs that US firms pay for raw steel.
This argument has proven highly successful. An August consultation saw 407 items added to the list with “almost zero requests for inclusion rejected,” according to one analyst. This “liberal, expansive approach,” as described by George Riddell of Flint Global, has confirmed European fears.
The new wave of requests was submitted before an October 21 deadline. A decision on this new 700-item list is expected within 60 days, likely in December or January, heightening transatlantic trade tensions and creating significant economic uncertainty.