Emma pushes Commission to prioritise steel in G20 meetings

Emma McClarkin MEP, lead Conservative member for the International Trade Committee, has this week written to the European Commission to once again highlight the need for urgent action to tackle cheap Chinese exports of steel.

The East Midlands MEP, who follows EU-China trade relations in the European Parliament, has written the letter in the context of the Chinese Presidency of the G20 to highlight to the European Commission that it should be placing unfair trading practices at the top of the agenda of the Working Group on Trade and Investment that meets throughout the year. The Working Group is a new mechanism created by China within the G20 this year and will meet to discuss how members can work together to pursue initiatives in this area.

The steel sector has faced an enormous amount of pressure across the world recently but particularly in the UK, where thousands of jobs have been lost across the country. Steel manufacturers have complained of vast amounts of Chinese steel being sold on the world market at below the domestic sale price, leading to companies such as TATA Steel who have operations in the UK having to make redundancies. Emma has been a champion for the steel sector on this issue and has raised it with the Commission on a number of occasions.

Within the letter Emma called for a greater recognition of the problem and the importance of taking the opportunity to raise the point as fully as possible. She hopes for a timely response and action as a result, stating: “I would be grateful for a response to this letter outlining how the Commission plans to raise this within the G20 and whether it will be working with other like-minded partners on steel, such as the US, to encourage China to resolve these matters.”

You can find below a copy of the letter and any response that is received will be conveyed on this website as and when it is received.