REVEALED: Four times the EU has tried to force Britain's hand since Brexit as bloc threatens 50% tariffs

The proposals would effectively match the levy US President Donald Trump previously imposed on the EU.

Director-general at UK Steel Gareth Stace issued a dire warning, calling it the "biggest crisis the UK steel industry has ever faced."

Mr Stace continued: "The Government must go all out to leverage our trading relationship with the European Union to secure UK country quotas or potentially face disaster.

"The UK Government must now recognise the urgent need to put in place its own measures to defend against a flood of imports.

"The probability of the EU’s measures redirecting millions of tonnes of steel towards the UK could be terminal for many of our remaining steel companies."

Here are some of the other times the European Commission has gone on the offensive against the UK.

FISHING

Earlier this year, data suggested Sir Keir Starmer's Brexit reset deal with the EU threatens to hand the bloc up to £6billion worth of British fish.

Official data suggests EU fishermen will get guaranteed access to UK waters until 2038, with the figure based on estimates provided to ministers before the deal was signed.

A memo from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provided ministers with an analysis of the "economic benefits and concerns of re-negotiating fisheries policies with the EU".

One extract of the memo seen by The Telegraph suggested that the EU took between £400million and £500million of landings from UK waters in 2023.

While Downing Street suggested the fishing deal will add £9billion to the economy by 2040 by strengthening links, Brexiteers described it as a betrayal of Britain’s coastal towns and cities.

Former Conservative Environment Minister Sir John Redwood said: "This needless giveaway of our fish will cost us more than just the lost £6billion of fish sales over 12 years."

While the £6billion figure is a rough projection, Chief Executive Officer of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations Mike Cohen described it as a "fair and realistic" estimate.

He told The Telegraph: "The EU has consistently taken around £500million of fish from UK waters annually for a number of years now.

"There is no realistic prospect of renegotiating quota shares, because the only bargaining chip the UK had to negotiate with was access to our waters and the Government has given that away."

Government sources told The Telegraph it was not possible to forecast the value of EU catches in UK waters for 2026–2038, as this depends on annual quota negotiations, catches of non-quota species and market prices.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

The EU has told Britain that it will not sign a deal to remove red tape on food imports unless the Government says yes to freedom of movement for young Europeans.

The Prime Minister is under intense pressure to get the deal done as he attempts to entice voters back with cheaper supermarket and household goods by 2027, as pledged in Labour's election manifesto.

Pressure on a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the European Union (EU) to be signed has increased after food inflation hit an 18-month high.

After the breakfast meeting concluded, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Our target for the SPS agreements, which will benefit our agri-food industries, is to have them implemented by 2027."

An agreement in principle for an SPS deal to be signed was reached in May - but the EU has said that any progress to sealing the deal hinges on a youth mobility scheme.

The proposal would grant freedom of movement for Europeans aged between 18 and 30 years old, a group of over 73 million, to live and work in Britain.

Despite previously saying that Britain had "no plans" to open up its borders to the EU, Mr Thomas-Symonds has repeatedly refused to rule it out.

MIGRATION DATA

The European Union denied Britain access to crucial migrant databases in the latest humiliating blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s so-called Brexit "reset".

The bloc has informed British diplomats that Brussels cannot disclose critical data with British law and immigration bodies.

Previously, Starmer insisted that "the more we can share, the better" and had outlined that one of his key demands of bringing Britain closer to the EU was increased transparency on crime and migration data between the UK and Europe.

But in a blow to the PM, Whitehall insiders have admitted to The Times that officials would not have access to the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Access to Eurodac, the EU’s fingerprint system which stores information on illegal migrants captured trying to make the perilous journey, will also be blocked.

Home Office officials have declared that access to such information would have acted as a “gamechanger” amid growing asylum seekers’ claims and appeals.

INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN

Nigel Farage's plan to save £234billion by banning non-UK citizens from claiming benefits is facing questions as it emerged there would be a carve-out for EU citizens with settled status.

The party has said it would axe the right of migrants to apply for indefinite leave to remain, ban anyone who is not a UK citizen from claiming benefits and force those applying for UK citizenship to renounce other citizenship.

But it has exempted EU citizens with settled status from its plans to ban migrant access to benefits and its policies on indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

Government sources have said there are 777,000 foreign Universal Credit claimants with this status.

Reform UK head of policy Zia Yusuf said the party would "open negotiations" with the EU on the welfare aspect of its plans.

But European sources have questioned why it would agree to the proposals which would "make EU nationals worse off than they are now".

According to The Times, one European diplomat said: "It takes two to tango in a treaty negotiation, why would we agree to reopen this very sensitive Brexit legacy to make EU nationals worse off than they are now.

“It would not happen and if a UK government stripped people of their rights under the withdrawal treaty there would be huge consequences."