The European Union has vowed to take firm and proportionate countermeasures in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.

Imposing US tariffs on UK steel would be "negative" for both countries, the business secretary has said. Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC the UK and US have a "mutual interest" in negotiating an exemption from President Donald Trump's plans for the 25% import tax, which could come into force in March.

The steel mill in a partially occupied region of Ukraine is a dystopian maze of flames, chutes and tentacled pipes, vast enough to be a small city. Thunderous blazes of sparks flash above the open furnaces where workers smelt iron ore into streams of molten metal day and night.