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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 March 2, Sajid Javid tried to persuade key figures in the British steel industry that he was putting pressure on Brussels to do more to protect them from cheaper Chinese imports.
He was 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 would also promise to push Brussels on raising tariffs on Chinese steel.
He would 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 March 2 (Wednesday afternoon).
But he could face a tough audience as union leaders have previously accused the business secretary of “hiding behind the EU”. They warned that the livelihoods of tens of thousands of British workers depend on finding a resolution.
Javid told parliament last 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 agreed “that it would speed up trade defence investigations where possible; the current investigation period was clearly not tenable”.
-The17th
China(Guangzhou)Int’l Fastener & Equipment Exhibition
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