Lord Wigley
Main Page: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, I do not want to interrupt the debate but we should hear from the noble Lord, Lord Wigley.
Lord Wigley
My Lords, the Minister referred to the close working that she has had with the Government of Wales. She also emphasised, quite rightly, the importance of keeping steel making going in Port Talbot until a buyer can be found. Can she confirm that the Government will at least match the £60 million put forward by the Welsh Government—proportionately more, we hope—to ensure that? Can she clarify what she said about the United Kingdom not opposing putting tariffs on steel from China? There are reports that the European Commission had been considering this and that the UK was one of a dozen countries that blocked it.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
On the question of money, I am glad to clarify that we are open to discussions on the level of support. I articulated earlier what we have been telling investors today. I am also glad to have the opportunity to set out what we have been doing about anti-dumping in Brussels. Thirty-seven anti-dumping measures have been taken—15 against China—and another nine areas are being looked at. As a result, as I said in the Statement, rebar imports from China have gone down by 99 percent, wire rod by 90 per cent and there has been a similar effect in other areas. The noble Lord is talking about tariff policy more broadly—the so-called lesser duty rule. In general—I have dealt with trade pretty well all my life—that rule gives the right balance between industry, industry users and, ultimately, consumers. There is a wish in some protectionist member states to use the opportunity to change that fundamental principle which ensures that users and consumers benefit as well industry. However, changing that rule could have ramifications in other areas, from candles to screws to shoes—there has been a lot of debate on anti-dumping of shoes. We need good anti-dumping measures. We are working with the Commission on those and trying to improve the logistics so that we can have more success with anti-dumping. Above all, we need to move with speed.