A £2.5bn plan to bolster the UK’s steel industry has been announced by the government ahead of the introduction of stringent tariffs on both steel and aluminium from US President Donald Trump.

The Plan for Steel aims to tackle various long-term issues facing the industry, such as high electricity costs, difficult trading practices and scrap metal recycling, as the domestic sector continues to face job losses and closures in the UK’s industrial heartlands.

The government is also simplifying public procurement of steel and will ensure that UK firms are in “the best possible position” to compete for and win public contracts. For example, just this week Heathrow airport announced a multi-million-pound investment that will require some 400,000 tonnes of steel.

The UK’s steel industry has been in decline for decades, but the sector is now facing some particularly challenging hurdles that present an existential threat. It is having difficulty competing with producers in China and India, and is...