EU investigations into China’s “dumping” of vast stockpiles of steel – which is undermining British industry – are to be speeded up, the business secretary will say.
On Wednesday, Sajid Javid will try to persuade key figures in the British steel industry that he is putting pressure on Brussels to do more to protect them from cheaper Chinese imports.
He is likely to cite a meeting of trade ministers in Brussels on Monday where a number of countries, including France and Spain, agreed that tougher “anti-dumping” measures were urgent. Javid will also promise to push Brussels on raising tariffs on Chinese steel.
He will be talking to industry figures and trade union chiefs, including from the GMB and Unite, at the first meeting of the Joint Steel Council in Whitehall on Wednesday afternoon.
But he could face a tough audience as union leaders have previously accused the business secretary of “hiding behind the EU”. They warn that the livelihoods of tens of thousands of British workers depend on finding a resolution.
Javid told parliament this week: “I am continuing to raise the issue in my regular discussions with Brussels, as I did only last week when I met the EU trade commissioner in London.”
He said that the European commission had now agreed “that it would speed up trade defence investigations where possible; the current investigation period was clearly not tenable”.
