Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to support the European Commission in its WTO case against the US administration's introduction of trade tariffs.

We consider the US decision to apply tariffs to steel and aluminium imports from the EU, on national security grounds to have weak foundations in international law. Ministers and officials have been, and will continue to be in close contact with their EU counterparts, through bilateral conversations and in the relevant Council bodies.

The UK, through its membership of the EU, has supported the WTO action initiated by the EU. The UK has always been a staunch defender of the rules-based international trading system.