On Wednesday, UK trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds will meet US trade representative Jamieson Greer in order to discuss a UK exemption from the tariffs on steel. It’s not that I feel unequal, intellectually, to the task of keeping up with the tariffs, what we stand to gain from an exemption, what we stand to lose. It’s not even that the US flip-flops so chaotically that it’s almost pointless to follow it minute by minute. Am I worried about the lickspittle running-dog nation that we are, abandoning all solidarity with the EU and others in order to carve out a side-deal, testament to our “special relationship”? Well, sure, a bit. Does it look as though we may have to make concessions on digital taxes in order to get this over the line, and forego even the pretence of making our own policy in our own interests? Probably, yes.
But more than any of that – and no offence, steel people – I’m sick of the irrational asymmetry in the way we talk about industries. Last year, steel contributed £1.7bn to the UK economy, or 0.1%, and directly supported 37,000 jobs – neatly, also 0.1% – which somehow makes it important enough that every other geopolitical consideration vis-a-vis the US comes second. Universities, meanwhile, contribute £71bn, and yet all anyone ever wonders is why they cost so much, why they’re in crisis, and how to bring foreign-student numbers down, even though they’re singlehandedly holding up the business model while doubling as a pretty major export statistic.
