EU FURY: Brussels threatens to SUE Britain if Fox secures exemption from US steel tariffs

The UK Trade Secretary has promised to go to Washington to argue for Britain to be left out of Mr Trump’s aggressive hikes.

The US president has promised a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminium in a move which has angered Brussels.

And EU sources have said if Britain secures favourable terms then EU negotiator Michel Barnier will see it as a “breach of trust”.

This could see Brussels look to punish the UK in all future talks.

And one senior official from the bloc even said Brussels would see such exemptions as breaking EU law.

This could lead to hauling Britain to the European Court of Justice, which could see the UK hit with a huge fine.

The official told the Telegraph: “The UK has to respect the rules.

“I don’t think there’s any question that if Mr Fox was going to decide to negotiate on this issue, he would be acting against the rule of law, against the rules of the EU.”

The warning followed Jyrki Katainen, the commission vice-president for jobs and investment, saying earlier today: “We expect the whole EU to be treated as a trading bloc.

“We cannot accept that the EU is divided into different categories. All our Member States are bound to the same set of rules when it comes to trade.

“Do we want a rules-based order or do we want the rule of force or the rule of the strongest?”

Appearing on last night’s Question Time, Dr Fox hit out at the prospect of Britain facing the same tariffs as the EU on US steel.

He said: “We produce very high-value steel, some of which can’t be sourced in the United States — and so these tariffs will simply push up the price of steel there.

“We also make steel for the American military program, so it’s doubly absurd. This is the wrong way to go about it.”

Downing Street has promised to “robustly” defend the UK steel industry, after US President Trump confirmed the tariffs.

The tariff – which Mr Trump said was aimed at protecting national security and American jobs – could trigger a full-blown trade war if the European Union responds with countermeasures.

Trade body UK Steel said the tariffs could have a “profound and detrimental impact”, while the Community union demanded action to protect British jobs and avoid a “global trade war”.

Responding to Mr Trump’s move, a Number 10 spokesman said: “Tariffs are not the right way to address the global problem of over-capacity. That requires a multilateral solution.

“We will work with EU partners to consider the scope for exemptions and continue to work with all sectors involved in this to robustly defend the interests of our industry.

“Liam Fox is travelling to the US next week to get more detail. The important part of this process is to get that detail and then consider the next steps.”