The Steel Industry

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:14 pm on 5 June 2018.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 2:14, 5 June 2018

Thank you, First Minister, for that answer and pre-empting my question, to an extent. But the sanction that has been imposed by the US on UK steel is going to have a major impact upon Port Talbot steel and steel products from elsewhere in Wales. Steel companies will look elsewhere, to other markets, which you've you already highlighted, to sell their steel and, therefore, the price of steel is likely to go down. This affects the profitability of steel, therefore, we need to address these matters, and you've already, thankfully, commented upon the leaked report that was mentioned in the press a couple of weeks ago about the £30 million investment in Tata for the power plant, so I can leave that one.

But you also, in your response to Caroline Jones, mentioned the actions that need to be taken to address the steel tariff issues. What are you doing as a Government to actually push those? Because it's important that we get this message across to the UK Government, and elsewhere, to ensure that actions are taken to protect our steel industry and the profitability of our steel industry. Otherwise, we will see damage done to our industry here.