Steel Tariffs: Northern Ireland Debate
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Alex Easton
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Steel Tariffs: Northern Ireland
Alex Easton Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Chris Bryant
First, I note that the hon. Member’s first sentence started, “Yes, we want to protect steel production, but”—yet nobody wants us to take the measures that we believe are necessary and proportionate to do that. That is one of the problems here: of course there are trade-offs. We want to protect steel production in the UK, which we believe is essential to our national security and to having a strong defence sector into the future, and that is why we are taking these measures.
I am not sure whether I can meet every single business. We have been rigorous about pursuing every single meeting that I have committed to. If I have got this wrong, I apologise to the hon. Member, but, again, if she had been in the Chamber on Thursday, she could have come to the meeting yesterday afternoon when lots of people took up the specific issues relating to their businesses.
If it is all right, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a correction. I said earlier that 1.5 megatonnes were being allowed under the EU measure; it is 1.05 megatonnes.
Alex Easton (North Down) (Ind)
I welcome the Minister’s announcement about no EU tariffs for steel coming into Northern Ireland. If we can do that for steel, can we not do that for other commodities that come into Northern Ireland? Will he look at reviewing that to see whether there are other items coming into Northern Ireland that do not need to have the same regulations?
Chris Bryant
I want to achieve frictionless trade, both within the UK internal market—I am determined to protect it as much as I possibly can—and with the whole of the European Union, because it is our single biggest trading partner. It was an act of monumental self-harm when we left the European Union that we did not achieve the frictionless trade that we need.