UK consulting on steel tariff plan after warnings from users

Britain is seeking views from industry on its new steel tariff regime, the government said on Wednesday, as it considers changes to the proposed scheme after users of the metal warned of heavy costs on their businesses.



Like other countries and the European Union, Britain is moving to protect domestic steel producers as they flag concern over the "dumping" of highly subsidised steel from countries such as China.



In March, Britain proposed to cut its tariff-free quota on imported steel and double the tariff on imports exceeding that allowance, in a new trade measure due to come in on July 1 which was welcomed by the British steel industry.



But firms from other sectors have expressed concern about the impact of the plan on their costs, and the British Chambers of Commerce has warned of "real financial and logistics problems" for steel-consuming industries including construction, engineering and manufacturing.