(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for stronger European Union measures against steel imports, saying he wants to secure the industry’s long-term future in Germany.
“We must protect our companies from dumping steel from abroad,” Scholz told Funke media group in an interview published on Saturday. “I am therefore calling on the EU Commission to take action: We need more protection for Europe.”
Scholz, who’s running for a second term as chancellor in an election expected in February, said he’ll meet steel industry representatives on Monday as Thyssenkrupp AG threatens job cuts that he has asked the company to reconsider.
EU countries are grappling with imports of Chinese electric vehicles and steel that the European Commission says are heavily subsidized.
Asked whether he’d support the German government’s taking a temporary stake in Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit, Scholz said, “I’m not taking any option off the table now.” He cited similar cases, including Lufthansa AG during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the government stepped in to help companies “overcome lean periods.”
Thyssenkrupp’s steel division in November proposed cutting 5,000 jobs while moving another 6,000 positions off the books by selling operations or moving people to external service providers. The business has lost billions of euros due to a global steel glut and a rise in energy prices.
Scholz, a Social Democrat, said national measures could be used to guarantee a “reliable electricity price” so that companies can commit to a climate-friendly production of steel.
“Steel manufacturers are currently investing in alternatives to the classic blast furnace that save a lot of carbon emissions,” he said. “We are subsidizing these projects with billions of euros.”
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