The turmoil of conflict and international crisis affects government as well as business interests. This article investigates how government–business relationships developed to tackle the potential problems of so-called peacetime crises that could adversely affect the country's steel and metal industries if the imports of alloy metals were disrupted in Sweden during the 1970s and 1980s. Based on extensive archival material and using an Advocacy Coalition Framework, we examine how this problem was negotiated between key stakeholders in Sweden during the period 1973–1987. We conclude that while the corporatist arrangements for negotiation were designed to build consensus, the state and business interests ultimately came into disagreement with each other. These results reflect recent research which emphasise that the relations between the state defence actors and business interests have been characterised by antagonism and contentions to a much larger degree than has been assumed in previous research.