Johnson suggests he is willing to break the law to protect British steel

MADRID, 27 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested on Sunday that Britain might be willing to flout international law to safeguard its steel industry.

Johnson has stated that it is reasonable for the sector to enjoy "the same protections" as other steel economies in the European Union, even if it fails to comply with commercial obligations, as reported by 'The Telegraph'.

In this context, Johnson told reporters at the G7 summit in Germany that the UK steel industry has been "going through a difficult time" due to rising energy prices.

"In the United Kingdom we have a system in which we do not privilege our industry in the way that other countries do," said the president.

In his opinion, "the British steel industry needs to have much cheaper energy and electricity for its blast furnaces. But until it can fix that, he believes that it is reasonable that British steel has the same protections that other European steel economies have, absolutely all the others".

British ministers are concerned that a global oversupply of steel has made its price "artificially low", threatening the viability of UK producers.

In this sense, Johnson's ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, resigned earlier this month due to Johnson's "frankness" in breaking international law, which he considered a "deliberate and intentional" breach of the ministerial code.

Johnson is expected to announce that existing tariffs on Chinese steel will be maintained and new barriers to imports from other countries will be extended, in what could be a breach of the United Kingdom's obligations with the World Trade Organization (WTO). .

"The difficulty is whether it is possible to do it while still fulfilling our obligations with the WTO, the World Trade Organization. That is the problem. But they are difficult decisions that must be made," Johnson settled.