In response to a question from POLITICO on when the deal would be enforced at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, Trump said it would happen “pretty soon.”
He added: “You have no idea. These people are tough negotiators. But we’re a big buyer of steel. We’re going to make our own steel; we’re going to make our own aluminum, for the most part. But we buy a lot of aluminum from here and a lot of steel, too.”
Starmer confirmed that the tariff cut was “already covered in the deal that we’ve agreed,” adding “we’re just doing the implementation of that.”
When the U.S. raised tariffs on the metal imports to 50 percent at the start of June, the U.K.’s tariff rate remained at 25 percent thanks to the May deal.
According to UK Steel, which represents the British steel industry, the U.K. currently exports around 200,000 tonnes of steel per year to the U.S., worth over £400 million. It described the imposition of U.S. tariffs on British steelmakers as a “devastating blow” that would stifle exports.
Trump said earlier on Monday that he is “going to look at” a blanket 10 percent tariff on most U.K. goods.