Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the European Union’s revised steel safeguard measures on UK steel exports.

We are in active dialogue with the European Commission to fully understand the details of their proposal and next steps.

The government is also working closely with UK industry to understand potential impacts and solutions, and to assess how best to secure the UK’s supply chains in light of these developments. I held a roundtable with industry, including trade unions, on the 9 October.

This government will always put the UK’s national interest first, and is committed to defending our critical steel industry, protecting skilled jobs and supporting economic growth as part of our Plan for Change.