British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to protect domestic steelmakers from rising energy costs. “We have a system in the UK where we don’t favor our industry like some other countries do,” Johnson said on Sunday arriving for the G7 summit in Germany. “We have to change that. We have to provide the British steel industry with much cheaper energy and cheaper electricity for their blast furnaces.” The newspaper Sunday Telegraph According to Johnson, he is aiming for stricter quotas for steel imports from emerging countries, which have not suffered so much from higher energy prices. This is intended to protect domestic producers, but this could violate international trade rules. The government only proposed last Thursday to extend an existing package of tariffs and quotas for five steel products by a further two years. According to the newspaper report, however, further rules are to be worked out in the coming week.
Britain will not unilaterally lift tariffs without other European countries doing the same, Johnson said. “I don’t think that’s the right way. I want a different solution.” However, it is difficult to meet the obligations within the framework of the World Trade Organization WTO. Johnson’s Conservative Party lost two by-elections a few days ago – including one in an industrial area.