PROPOSED increases to metal tariffs by US President Donald Trump would be “devastating” for the British steel industry, Unite warned today.

Setting out plans for a 15 per cent tariff on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminium, Mr Trump said US domestic industry had been “decimated” by “unfair” trade policies and would not be “taken advantage of any longer.”

Unite’s national officer for steel Tony Brady warned however that the measure would add to pressures on British steel, which had already been taken “to the precipice” by government inaction against cheap Chinese steel dumping.