This evening (7 October 2025) Luke Myer, MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, met with the Government’s Industry Minister Chris McDonald to discuss proposals announced by the European Commission.

The European Commission proposes to impose 50% tariffs on steel, while reducing tariff-free import volumes by 47%. These are initial proposals which will take several months to develop.

Minister McDonald’s professional background is in the Teesside steel industry, and he now represents a Teesside constituency. He works closely with Luke on a range of issues affecting the Teesside region.

He said that the Government is pushing the European Commission for urgent clarification of the impact of this move on the UK, and that it was “vital” to protect trade flows between the UK and EU.

He emphasised the Government’s commitment to UK steel – demonstrated earlier in the year by securing preferential access to the US market for UK exporters. He affirmed that “we will always defend our critical steel industry”.

The UK has a robust trade defence system in place, including the UK’s existing steel safeguard measure. The Government is keeping all options under review to defend the industry, and continues to explore stronger trade measures to protect UK steel producers from unfair behaviours.