A new report by the UK Metals Council, titled State of the Metals Industry in the UK 2025/2026, has revealed that the scenario in the metal sector firms in the country is showing worrying signs. Two-thirds of the companies believe that current trade regulations and policies are hampering their competitiveness in the global markets as 52 percent of the Countries metal firms have demanded proper government and financial incentives to make them catch up with the international markets maintain a positive shift in the global race. Many have even emphasized for improving relations with the United States citing rising operational costs and supply challenges after Brexit. The high energy costs have been pointed out as the obstacle to maintaining growth along with regulatory burdens.

This comes at a time when rising taxes in recent times has already led to a lot of Businessmen leave the UK and now the Metal sector complaining shows the critical role of effective trade governance. Experts are suggesting without proper innovation will get more difficult to improve the trade and global position of the UK. Keir Starmer's government view steel as a strategic sector, essential for construction, automotive, defense and has indicated a call for merging the fragmented steel companies to provide sustainability in the long run. Moreover, the EU increasing its tariffs to 50 percent on excess imports is worsening the case for UK. The increasing electricity costs are putting more pressure on prices. With what has been labelled as a "downfall of metal sector" in the UK since long it would be interesting to see whether the government's procurement policies can give stability to a sector which was once it's core.