BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - SPD leaders Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas are calling for German and European steel to be given preferential treatment in public procurement. "In important areas such as our infrastructure, we must give preference to steel that is produced here. This is especially true now, when we are investing in our infrastructure as never before with our €500 billion investment package," Klingbeil told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.
According to the Funke newspapers, a corresponding strategy entitled "Strengthening the location, advancing transformation, securing jobs" is to be decided on Monday by the SPD executive committee. In it, the SPD advocates a "Buy European" approach in view of foreign dumping competition and calls for, among other things, "robust trade protection" against unfair practices by other countries, lower energy prices, and aid for the climate-neutral transformation of the steel industry.
Labor Minister Bas also emphasized the importance of the industry to the Funke newspapers: "Steel production must have a future in Germany. A strong steel industry is indispensable for our industrial location and also a matter of national security."
The German steel industry is suffering from the crisis in consumer industries, especially the automotive industry. Added to this are rising energy prices, cheap imports, especially from China, and the costs of converting to more climate-friendly steel production. High tariffs on steel imports into the US are also causing problems for the industry. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) announced a "steel summit" in the fall in this context. /dmo/DP/he
