Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the UK being temporarily spared from Trump's 50 percent steel tariffs

The UK has managed to escape Donald Trump's recent executive order doubling steel and aluminium tariffs from 25 percent to 50 percent. 

The order raises import taxes for US-based firms buying metals from other countries going forward. 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the UK evaded these tariffs as a result of the trade deal between both nations.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray, UK correspondents with US. Now, Hey, Gevin, Hi,
how have you guys managed to end up with only
a twenty five percent tariff?

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, that's an interesting one, isn't it. So Donald Trump
announcing overnight our time, the last few hours really that
the UK will not have to pay the doubling of
the steel and aluminium tariff from twenty five to fifty percent.
Good question as to why we've been singled out. I
think it's all really part of this ongoing semi trade
deal which was announced of course last month. But many

(00:31):
are saying, well, let you know, we really need to
crack on and do more, because that was just a
skeleton of a sort of massive trade deal. But America
is the destination for about seven percent of steel exports
from the UK, so those tariffs would have had a
big impact on what is a very very fragile industry
here in the UK. Just earlier this year, the governments

(00:53):
had to step in to rescue UK Steel, take it
over from a Chinese giant because they feared it was
being run into the ground in that no more raw
materials were being ordered and they were simply going to
let the blast furnaces go out and they're extremely difficult
to restart. So this is good news for that, I suppose.
But the levee still remains at twenty five percent for

(01:15):
UK steel and some will think, well, that's great, Donald
Trump done us a bit of a favor. Others will think, well,
hang on a minute, because we've still got this twenty
five percent tariff. So although the US is the biggest
important steel in the world after the European Union, it
certainly is trying to get that steel industry back in
its own country into a firmer hold.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, totally. Hey, listen, run me through what is going
on here with the former Chelsea Football Club owner.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yes, so Romana Bramobitch was subject to sanctions here in
the UK following Russian invasion of Ukraine back in twenty
twenty two, so it was agreed that when he wanted
to sell Chelsea Football Club he would not personally benefit
from the fee. Fee is roughly five and a half

(02:02):
billion New Zealand dollars, so it's a big amount of money.
But since the sale it has sat frozen in a
bank account, and that is because at the time of
the sale it was agreed by the British government that
the money would go to humanitarian aid, and what the
British government was assuming was that that would go to

(02:24):
those in Ukraine. What the oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich
is saying is I think it should go actually to
all of the victims of the war in Ukraine, in
other words Russian as well, and that has led to
this massive impasse and standoff between the two sides. Some
are saying of our British government, where you were in

(02:46):
charge of the sanctions, you were in charge of this agreement,
how come it wasn't absolutely nailed on that it had
to go to people in Ukraine, rather than now the
oligarch being able to turn around and say, well, I know,
I always say it all along, it was to go
to all victims of the war in Ukraine. And it's
all a bit of a mess. And indeed the House
of Lord's Committee described it as incomprehensible that this promise

(03:10):
to use funds to support Ukraine remain unfulfilled and the
assets remain frozen to this Daykevin.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
This amount of money that you people need to retire
comfortably seems to me extraordinary. It's like sixty thousand pounds
which is about one hundred and forty thousand New Zealand dollars.
That's huge, isn't it annually?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yes it is. Yes. This is a look at what
a couple might need for retirement. It says there should
be a minimum of roughly fifty thousand New Zealand dollars
a year. But for comfortable retirement, yeah, they're saying that's
sort of one hundred and thirty thousand New Zealand dollars
a year. Looking at the figures to break down, they're

(03:49):
saying money to maintain a property roughly one two hundred
New Zealand dollars a year. They're saying groceries just under
the three hundred dollars a week mark, running a three
year old small car, replacing it every five years, and
some money to spend on taxis and railfares. They're also
saying one holiday abroad and long weekends in the UK

(04:13):
adds up and they're saying roughly three and three two
hundred dollars on clothing and shoes. That's for a couple. Now,
it gets slightly easier if you're a single person, but
of course you've only got one pension part In theory
with the about what we are about ninety eight thousand
New Zealand dollars a year to be comfortable, and a

(04:34):
minimum of some twenty eight thousand New Zealand dollars a year.
I have to say that this idea of only spending,
you know, a bit on groceries and a bit here
and a bit there. I went shopping yesterday and I
pretty much spent that whole week's allowance and more in
one go. Food shopping has become very very expensive here,

(04:55):
So I'm worried about these figures.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Jesus even more the GVIN thanks very much appreciated. For
more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
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