The European Union is responding to the Iran war’s energy shock with a familiar but difficult formula: temporary relief now, structural transition later. EU leaders on Thursday called for short-term measures to soften the impact of surging imported fuel and power prices, with electricity tax cuts, lower grid fees and state support all under discussion.

The European Council’s summit conclusions also asked for a toolbox of targeted temporary measures to address the recent price spike and for concrete actions to lower electricity prices while preserving fair competition and investment incentives.

The Jones Act waiver shows how quickly the Trump administration has moved from ideological preference to crisis pragmatism under the pressure of the Iran war. Washington has granted a 60-day waiver of the century-old law, temporarily allowing foreign-flagged ships to carry fuel, fertilizer and other goods between U.S. ports in response to higher prices and supply disruptions linked to the conflict.

The move is significant not because it will dramatically reduce costs on its own, but because it signals that the administration now sees domestic shipping constraints as one of the bottlenecks worsening the economic fallout from the war.

Britain is preparing to harden its steel trade defenses in what looks like a significant shift toward a more openly protectionist industrial policy. The government is expected to cut import quotas for many steel products and raise tariffs on shipments outside those limits to 50%, roughly bringing the UK into line with the European Union and the United States.

The move would form part of a broader steel strategy expected shortly from the government, which has already made clear that it sees the survival of domestic steelmaking as a strategic priority rather than simply a matter of market efficiency.