Overview

• The SPD’s six-page strategy, due for a presidium vote Monday, elevates the sector as a party priority and proposes procurement preferences for EU steel, tougher trade defenses, energy relief, funding for green production, and stronger worker co-determination.
• Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and Economics Minister Katherina Reiche pledged an industrial power price for energy‑intensive companies pending European Commission approval, with negotiations slated to conclude this year and reimbursements booked to the 2027 budget.
• The paper calls for a firm EU import ban on Russian steel and steps to block circumvention via third countries, and seeks a U.S. agreement to restore duty‑free exports within agreed quotas.
• Relief could be financed from the federal Climate and Transformation Fund, while unions argue heavy users should pay no more than about five euro cents per kilowatt-hour.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans an October steel summit to align government, industry and unions on concrete measures as high domestic energy costs, global overcapacity and cheap Asian imports pressure jobs and output.