Britain is mulling action to protect its ailing steel industry
that could set it on collision course with the World Trade Organization (WTO),
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday.
Britain’s
steel industry is battling for survival having shrunk over recent decades, and
is now bearing the brunt of sky-rocketing energy prices.
The
government has provided some financial support for energy-intensive businesses,
including steel, but Johnson has indicated it will take further action that
could breach its WTO obligations.
When
asked about reports he is ready to break WTO rules by imposing new tariffs,
Johnson told British reporters at the G7 summit in Germany that “we have a
system in the UK where we don’t privilege our industry in the way that some
other countries do.
“We need
British Steel to be provided with much cheaper energy and cheap electricity for
its blast furnaces.
“But
until we can fix that, I think it is reasonable for UK steel to have the same
protections that… absolutely every other European steel economy does,” he
added.
“The
difficulty is, is that possible to do while staying within our WTO? But these
are tough choices that you have to make.”
According
to the Sunday Telegraph, Johnson is planning to impose import limits on steel
from several developing countries and extend the tariffs already imposed on
developed countries and China.
Johnson’s
political standing is in peril after two crushing by-election defeats this
week. One was in the former industrial city of Wakefield, a so-called Red Wall
seat that switched to the Tories at the last election.
The
government hopes action on steel will bolster support in such areas, observers
say.