20 February 2026 – Germany’s Federal Environment Minister has called on domestic industry to show more “location patriotism” and to increase the use of green steel – conveniently omitting, however, that his steel producers source their raw materials in a decidedly un-patriotic fashion from non-EU countries. New studies confirm: Europe’s me-too strategy on tariffs cannot succeed. Base metals continue to move sideways in stable fashion.
Base Metals Continue to Move Sideways
Base metals, specifically nickel, copper and aluminium, once again moved sideways in stable fashion on Thursday. On Friday morning, aluminium showed a narrow gain of 1% in early trading, while nickel and copper added between 0.3% and 0.5%. The trading week on the LME could thus end on a balanced note or with slight gains.
Germany: More “Location Patriotism” for Steel?
Germany’s Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) recently called on German automobile manufacturers to show more “location patriotism.” To this end, they should increasingly rely on “domestic” raw materials, as several German media outlets report. Once again, the focus is on the mandatory use of green steel and state-directed lead markets.
Minister Schneider pointed, among other things, to the supposed example set by Deutsche Bahn – which recently ordered “green steel tracks” from steelmaker Saarstahl, a company steered by former SPD functionaries. What is unfortunately overlooked is that this amounted to a mere 15 to 16 kilometres of rails, or 0.04% of Deutsche Bahn’s entire rail network.
The EU Must Import 75% of Its Iron Ore Requirements
As for how “location patriotism” using “domestic raw materials” is supposed to work when 75% of Europe’s total iron ore demand already has to be met through imports, the Minister might kindly also disclose where, firstly, the iron ore deposits for this are supposed to be and, secondly, where these are currently still being mined – in adequate quantity and quality. The dream of green steel will certainly not come from Germany’s last iron ore mine in Porta Westfalica.
It would be welcome if the Federal Environment Minister would finally wake up to this issue and view the economic nightmare of green steel for what it is – an economic nightmare. Unfortunately, it seems that even the Federal Environment Ministry still fails to understand that ideology-driven politics has never led to good results.
Europe’s Me-Too Strategy on Tariffs Will Not Work
While Germany and the EU are apparently still trying to rob their export-dependent economy, which relies on open markets, of its last remaining competitiveness through tariffs, quotas, location patriotism and protectionist measures on vital raw material and semi-finished product imports, developments on the other side of the Atlantic show that such measures are by no means a silver bullet for a struggling economy.
An increasing number of studies are now concluding that US tariffs are being borne almost entirely by domestic consumers and manufacturers. Most recently, the New York branch of the US Federal Reserve published a study entitled “Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs?” and calculated that more than 90% of tariff costs had to be passed on to consumers.
Despite tariffs, the US goods trade deficit continued to rise in 2025, reaching nearly USD 1,241 billion – an increase of 2.1% compared to the previous year.
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