Overview
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz will convene a 90-minute meeting at the Chancellery on Thursday with federal ministers, industry leaders, and the premiers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, and Saarland.
- The government says the talks aim to chart a strategy to protect and strengthen domestic steel production, focusing on competitiveness, trade relations, and energy costs.
- CDU Members of the European Parliament Dennis Radtke and Christian Ehler urge Berlin to endorse the European Commission’s plan to cut duty-free steel import quotas and impose a 50% tariff on volumes above the cap, which still requires EU approval.
- SPD figures and state leaders press for concrete relief on energy, with SPD parliamentary manager Dirk Wiese calling for an industrial power price and capped grid fees, while NRW’s Mona Neubaur demands decisions rather than further delay.
- Saarland premier Anke Rehlinger backs resorting to EU duties against unfair pricing from China, underscoring cross-party concern as the sector faces weak demand, high energy costs, cheap imports, and the expensive shift to low-carbon production.