Local manufacturers face a massive increase in costs if the Labour government’s plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on steel imports are not changed before they take effect on 1 July.
Speaking in a debate on The Customs (Tariff and Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2026 which implement the tariffs, James Wild MP challenged ministers over plans for a sweeping new steel imports tariff regime that could damage North West Norfolk manufacturing and engineering businesses, and firms across the country.
The proposed regime would impose a 50% tariff from 1 July across 20 product categories and bring bright bar, wire and stainless steel into scope for the first time.
While ministers claim tariffs would only cover types of steel made, or capable of being made, in the UK to support domestic production, James echoed industry warnings that the policy will hit manufacturers reliant on unavailable domestic grades, specifications and volumes.
He has spoken with many local companies across North West Norfolk and set out wider strategic consequences:
“I have met representatives of companies in my constituency and beyond, and their message is stark: the Government are jeopardising jobs in crucial sectors, in a flawed attempt to protect UK steelmaking. That approach fails to understand how supply chains in defence, aerospace and other sectors work and why these regulations will undermine our national security.”
The government has said tariffs will only apply to steel not available from UK steel producers. James highlighted that industry has said that is not the case:
“In justifying the policy, the Government have said that higher tariffs will apply only to steel that is, or could be, made in the UK, but the industry has said repeatedly that is not the case. Those firms are clear that UK mills cannot produce the grades and type of steel that their businesses require.
James also raised the accompanying tariff quota volumes which have not yet been announced and are due in separate regulations, with cuts estimated at 60% overall and up to 97% in some categories. This leaves manufacturers without certainty before the measures take effect. He said:
“I implore the Minister to ensure that tariff quota levels are set at a sufficient volume to avoid the huge damage to our industrial base that companies have made very clear is likely if things proceed on this basis.”
James went on to press ministers over suppliers locked into long-term defence and engineering contracts. He challenged the absence of a substantive, costed impact assessment that industry leaders have said has left no time for businesses to prepare for the changes.
Therefore, he called for a six-month delay to allow industry more time to adapt and a commitment to sufficient quota volumes and exclusions for specialist grades, sizes and specifications not produced in the UK.
Concluding, James and his colleagues voted against the regulations and urged ministers “to reconsider their plans, and instead to protect jobs and promote economic growth”.
