British steel firms should benefit from the "same protections" as European rivals, Boris Johnson said as he prepared to break World Trade Organisation rules.
The Government is poised to slap sweeping new steel tariffs on a host of nations in a move touted as an attempt to woo Red Wall voters.
The Mirror told last week how ministers wanted to extend for another two years measures to block cheap foreign imports from flooding the British market.
Plans to maintain quotas and tariffs on some imports - which critics claim breach World Trade Organisation rules - contributed to Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser Lord Geidt quitting earlier this month.
Speaking at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, Mr Johnson said: "I think it's very important people understand the context of this, and that is that the UK steel industry has been going through a difficult time, partly because of the energy prices that I have been talking about.
“We have a system in the UK where we don't privilege our industry in the way that some other countries do.
“They pay a very high price for energy; we need to fix that.
"We need British steel to be provided with much cheaper energy and cheap electricity for its blast furnaces but until we can fix that, I think it is reasonable for UK steel to have the same protections that other European, absolutely every other European - steel economy does."
Rejecting removing tariffs, the PM said: "I don't think that's the right way forward, I want another solution.
"The difficulty is, is that possible to do while staying within our WTO, our World Trade Organisation obligations? That's the problem.
“But these are tough choices that you have to make."
Last week, trade body UK Steel warned that relaxing protections could inflict a £150milllion blow on the sector.
Director-general Gareth Stace said at the time: “The Government’s interventions will guard against anticipated surges in imports from trade diverted away from the US and EU markets that will remain shielded for years to come.
“Such surges would have risked jobs, investment, and our ability to transition to net-zero.
“With high-paying steel jobs concentrated in Yorkshire, Humberside and South Wales, maintaining the safeguard is also critical for the Government’s levelling-up ambitions.”
Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas Symonds said steel “is a foundational sector for the UK’s national interest, as well as a cornerstone for jobs and communities across the country”.
He added: “Similar protections are in place for the EU and the US.
“However, the Government should be doing more to make our steel sector secure for future generations and have a plan in place to prevent any further last-minute extensions of key measures.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy initially said the idea "can't be right" in an interview with Sky News.
But soon after he shifted his stance telling the BBC : "I think it's the extension that he's suggesting… we would support him. Steel workers support him.
"The unions support him, industry support him, Labour does support him."
The Mirror has been campaigning to Save Our Steel since 2015.
The sector directly employs 33,700 workers and supports another 42,000 posts in supply chains. It is worth £2.1billion to the UK economy.
