US Steel Import Tariffs

Lord Howell of Guildford Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

Forgive me. I cannot comment further on the specifics of the Windsor arrangement in absence of the facts, but on the relationship with the EU, this Government were elected with a strong mandate to reset that and make sure that we build on the relationship we have, both with Europe and the US—I do not think this is necessarily a binary choice between the two. I suspect that when we think about the strategy particular to the steel industry, understanding what those relationships look like with the EU but also with the US, and the specifics of any tariff arrangements in place, will be a key factor of those considerations and the strategy at large. We will not be afraid to make sure that we are representing UK industries in supporting the steel industry to the best of our ability.

[Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)]

My Lords, the steel industry is paying much the highest electricity costs in the world, and unless we can get around that problem, we are not going to be selling steel anywhere. The Minister did not mention that. Could she say what is being done to address that part of the problem, which would not solve all the difficulties but would certainly make things less difficult than they are now?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I acknowledge that electricity and power costs within the UK are higher. In my role, as I think about investment, that is something that we need to make sure we understand and grapple with as we support stronger investment in the UK overall. With regard to the steel industry specifically, there are initiatives and schemes for high-intensity energy consumers within the UK that are valuable assets, such as the steel industry, to support them with those energy costs. However, while I acknowledge that that support is specific to the steel industry, wider UK industry as a whole really needs to understand what we can do to grapple with energy costs. On that, significant investment is under way to increase the supply of energy within the UK and the transition into cleaner energy environments. A lot of work and investment have gone into that as part of the green energy transition.