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Cameron, who spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a
Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, is trying to salvage
Britain's steel industry after Tata Steel <TISC.NS> put its
British plants up for sale, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
The government has said it is working to broker a deal with
potential buyers after Tata Steel <TISC.NS> sought to end its
almost decade-long venture in Britain, which employs 15,000
people but has been hit by high costs and Chinese competition.
Steelmakers in Britain pay some of the highest energy costs and
green taxes in the world, but the government says the
fundamental problem facing the industry is the collapse in the
price of steel, caused by overcapacity in China.
Britain imported 826,000 tonnes of Chinese steel in 2015, up
from 361,000 two years earlier, according to the International
Steel Statistic bureau.
China said on Friday it would impose import tariffs of up to 46
percent on some steel, including a type of hi-tech steel
imported from Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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