IMAGE: Jean Beaufort, www.publicdomainpictures.net

Government plans to introduce a 50% tariff on steel imports to the UK will have dire consequences for small and medium-sized businesses, a Sheffield manufacturer has warned.

In March, the government announced a “new landmark Steel Strategy and robust trade measure” which the Department for Business and Trade argued will support national security and ensure the UK steel sector’s future in the face of global overcapacity.

However, for businesses who are unable to get the steel they need from UK manufacturers, such as Sheffield-based Footprint Tools, the tariff will likely mean a 50% increase in their steel costs, which firms can either absorb, or pass onto their customers.

The steel Footprint Tools relies on falls under the steel category 12B, a grade of steel they are unable to obtain from UK suppliers.

“The glaring hole in the governments tariffs strategy is that we can import part finished or finished products from abroad with no tariffs,” said Timothy Jewitt, Director of the firm.

“In one fell swoop, masses of businesses have been made uncompetitive, and we were already uncompetitive due to rising costs of doing business in the UK.”

Footprint Tools is one of 200 Confederation of British Metal Formers (CBM) members lobbying the UK Steel Council and the Department of Business and Trade to rethink their strategy, calling the cost increases driven by the tariff “potentially fatal”.

CBM President Steve Morley spoke out: “It’s a crazy decision when you consider the downstream supply chain employs ten times as many workers (many with decades of acquired skills) than UK steel producers.

“Thanks to decisions made to supposedly boost British industry, hundreds of firms now face severe disruption in the form of highly restrictive quotas, and potentially fatal cost increases driven by 50% tariffs.”

Footprint Tools said it contacted several local MPs with its concerns, including Gill Furniss, Marie Tidball and Olivia Blake, on April 15 and 16 and received no responses.

Mr Jewitt added that Clive Betts MP had agreed to meet two other local manufacturers, offering a meeting to discuss their concerns.

The company is calling for a nine to 12 month lead time before tariffs come in, giving small and medium manufacturers more time to plan, as opposed to the three months they are currently contending with.

It also wants to see a change the tariffs and import quotas that takes into account UK supply of certain grades of steel.

“The government appear to have no understanding of the steel industry and have ignored the steel processors,” Mr Jewitt said.

He predicts that many manufacturers – including many across Sheffield and South Yorkshire, where the steel industry is historically prevalent – will close or shift production abroad if nothing changes.