Habeck calls for greater help for Germany’s steel industry

Hours after Germany’s thyssenkrupp Steel announced plans to cut thousands of jobs, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck called for measures to ease pressures on the country’s steel industry.

Thyssenkrupp’s decision “is the result of the great pressure that the steel industry has been under worldwide for many years,” Habeck said on Monday in Berlin.

The plans to dramatically reduce thyssenkrupp Steel’s workforce is a consequence of a huge global overcapacity in steelmaking and intense international competition, Habeck said.

He suggested some overseas steelmakers receive unfair advantages, and noted that he successfully helped push to extend the European Union’s protective measures against steel imports until June 30, 2026.

“Our steel industry must be protected from non-market distortions of competition,” he said

He noted that World Trade Organization (WTO) rules prohibit further extending the measures, but added that “we should not accept this so easily.”

“We are campaigning for a successor regulation to protect the steel market,” he said.

According to Habeck, the German government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia also stand by their commitments to support a climate-friendly restructuring of the steel industry.

Hours after Germany’s thyssenkrupp Steel announced plans to cut thousands of jobs, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck called for measures to ease pressures on the country’s steel industry.

Thyssenkrupp’s decision “is the result of the great pressure that the steel industry has been under worldwide for many years,” Habeck said on Monday in Berlin.

The plans to dramatically reduce thyssenkrupp Steel’s workforce is a consequence of a huge global overcapacity in steelmaking and intense international competition, Habeck said.

He suggested some overseas steelmakers receive unfair advantages, and noted that he successfully helped push to extend the European Union’s protective measures against steel imports until June 30, 2026.

“Our steel industry must be protected from non-market distortions of competition,” he said

He noted that World Trade Organization (WTO) rules prohibit further extending the measures, but added that “we should not accept this so easily.”

“We are campaigning for a successor regulation to protect the steel market,” he said.

According to Habeck, the German government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia also stand by their commitments to support a climate-friendly restructuring of the steel industry.