ST. PAUL — U.S. Steel will temporarily pay less in taconite royalties to Minnesota for the ore it extracts from the Iron Range under action taken Wednesday by a board of top state leaders.

The state’s Executive Council, which is made up of the governor and four other statewide officials, unanimously granted the 15-month cost relief that could add up to $4.5 million. Retroactive to April, the relief will reduce payments the company must make to a school trust fund and a few other state accounts.

Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr said the move cuts the fee that the dominant mining company pays on each ton of ore from about 91 cents to 75 cents in the current fiscal quarter, but that rate will be adjusted based on a variety of inflationary factors and could rise or fall. He backed the recommendation to “help them get through tough times.”

U.S. Steel executive Lawrence Sutherland told the board the break — combined with energy cost savings in a proposal pending before the Legislature — would help it absorb the effects of low steel prices and cutthroat foreign competition.

“We’re in a real battle in our business to maintain our domestic steel footprint as well our iron ore,” he said.