Six federal states found steel alliance

Strengthening Germany as a steel location

The federal states of Saarland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Hamburg want to form a steel alliance. This was decided by the representatives of the state governments in Saarbrücken at the first national steel summit. The reasons are the USA’s punitive tariffs on steel and a so-called “steel glut”. This means higher imports into the EU as a result of the trade conflict.

According to Anke Rehlinger, Saarland Economics Minister of the SPD, the alliance is intended to bundle the strengths of the federal states and thus secure Germany as a strong steel location in the long term.
More than 2,500 guests from the industry took part in the summit, which took place under the motto “Strengthening steel to secure the future”. Representatives of the Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl, the IG Metall trade union and the Saarhütten association also attended the symposium.

Steel alliance should make Europe more competitive

Steel alliance should make Europe more competitive

According to a media report in the newspaper “Die Welt”, more and more cheap steel is entering the EU as a result of the punitive tariffs. Exports in the USA have been declining significantly in recent months. For comparison: in July 2018 around 10 percent less steel was imported into the United States. This corresponds to around 1.6 million tonnes less than in 2017.

The EU has already taken protective measures to limit steel imports into Europe. But the measures are only provisional. It is still unclear what measures will be taken in the long term.