Downing Street hopes to secure deals on steel and electric cars with the EU as it seeks to upgrade the post-Brexit economic relationship.<\/p>\n
Amid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and strains in relations with the US, Keir Starmer is seeking closer economic ties<\/a> with the EU.<\/p>\n The UK wants agreements on steel and electric vehicles to avoid British industry being disadvantaged by scheduled changes to trade rules.<\/p>\n The EU this week agreed trade restrictions on steel imports<\/a> in response to a glut of artificially cheap Chinese imports that have depressed global prices. The UK, which is one of the EU\u2019s biggest markets, is not the target, but will be hurt by the higher tariffs, which come into force on 1 July.<\/p>\n The UK had already announced protection for domestic steel <\/a>earlier this month: it will slash quotas for tariff-free steel by 60% and impose a 50% tariff on imports above that level from 1 July.<\/p>\n Separately, stricter trade rules for electric cars are due to come into force in 2027.<\/p>\n The Cabinet Office minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, told reporters in Brussels this week that steel and EVs \u201chave to be a matter of discussion this year\u201d because of the context.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if there was no wider reset discussion going on, steel at this moment would be something as a matter of discussion,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is a similar situation on rules of origin in the automotive sector,\u201d he added, citing the high value of car batteries as the problem.<\/p>\n In 2023, UK and EU carmakers were given three years to meet more demanding local-content requirements<\/a>. To qualify for zero tariffs under the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, car manufacturers have to prove that 40% of the value of an EV is comprised of parts made in the EU and the UK.<\/p>\n A move to a higher local-content requirement was delayed until 2027, after industry requests, as limited battery production meant EU and UK producers would struggle to meet the criteria. The battery can account for up to 50% of the value of an EV.<\/p>\n Thomas-Symonds declined to name specific sectors where the government is seeking to align with the EU, citing the negotiating process and a wish not to disclose market-sensitive information. He said he would take a \u201cruthlessly pragmatic approach\u201d that would assess \u201cwhere it is our national interest to align\u201d.<\/p>\n British officials are wary of repeating the experience of the Brexit years, when the government presented a wishlist to Brussels, only to see the proposals shot down even before they were published<\/a> \u2013 the fate of Theresa May\u2019s Chequers plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n The EU commissioner in charge of UK relations, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, told the EU-UK Forum conference this week \u201cwe have taken good note of the UK\u2019s desire to work on closer alignment with the EU and are exploring what can be done\u201d. A commission spokesperson declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n The EU and UK will hold a summit in the summer with the aim of finalising agreements on food and drink, youth mobility and energy. But the agenda for deepening economic ties beyond those issues has not yet been set out.<\/p>\n David Henig, the director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said the two sides were having an \u201cunstructured\u201d conversation about the future economic relationship that was hampered by \u201cstruggling\u201d talks on a youth mobility deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Henig suggested a deeper economic relationship could be constructed under the banner of economic security, in response to Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs and Chinese competition. \u201cIt could be a helpful one that allows you to tackle a few issues in a way that didn\u2019t reopen some of the awkward old things,\u201d he said, referring to Brexit red lines.<\/p>\n Nearly a decade after the EU referendum of 2016, some prominent EU voices argue it is time to move beyond the Brexit years.<\/p>\n The president of the European parliament, Roberta Metsola, said both sides had a \u201cstrategic imperative\u201d to reset the relationship, calling for a bespoke approach to UK relations. \u201cWe need to be talking about a uniquely \u2018British\u2019 model,\u201d she said, describing the UK as \u201cnot any other third country\u201d but a former EU member that \u201cneeds to be treated as such\u201d.<\/p>\n