Plaid MS calls on UK to rejoin single market following EU tariff hike

Plaid Cymru Senedd Member Cefin Campbell has urged the UK Government to rejoin the European Union to protect Wales’s steel industry from a new wave of tariffs that he says could “cripple” manufacturers.

The call follows the EU’s announcement that it will match tariffs imposed by former US president Donald Trump, doubling levies on imported steel to 50%. With nearly 80% of UK steel exports destined for the EU, the trade association UK Steel has warned that the move could spark the “biggest crisis” the industry has faced.

[mid-content-banner]

Preferential access

Speaking on ITV Cymru Wales’ Sharp End programme, Cefin Campbell MS said the situation was a “direct result of Brexit”, which had stripped the UK of its preferential access to the European market.

“If we were still in the European Union, we would not be paying these tariffs,” he said. “Eighty per cent of our steel exports go to Europe — the biggest trading bloc in the world — and we madly decided to leave it. We’re now paying the price.

“That’s why I would implore Sir Keir Starmer to rejoin the single market and the customs union.”

Labour Senedd Member John Griffiths also expressed concern, warning that the tariff escalation highlighted how vulnerable the UK had become since leaving the EU.

“It is extremely worrying, and I know the Welsh Government is urging the UK Government to seek talks with the European Commission as soon as possible,” he said.

“We’re caught between the United States and the European Union in this tariff war. It just shows one of the real consequences of Brexit.”

[lower-mid-content-banner]

'Vulnerable'

Griffiths, who represents Newport East — home to the Llanwern steelworks — said workers were “feeling very worried and very vulnerable” about the future.

However, Welsh Conservatives rejected claims that Brexit was to blame. Samuel Kurtz MS described suggestions linking the tariffs to the UK’s departure from the EU as “for the birds”, insisting the issue stemmed instead from “Europe’s trade war with Donald Trump’s America”.

Reform UK’s Jason O’Connell went further, blaming “the madness of the drive for net zero” rather than Brexit for the sector’s instability.

The warnings come as steel producers across Wales, including Port Talbot and Llanwern, brace for the potential impact of the EU’s decision — a move industry leaders say could put thousands of jobs at risk unless a trade solution is swiftly reached.

This week’s Sharp End episode is available to view on ITVX here or on YouTube here