I’m happy to pay a premium for convenience. Steam is a great product that saves me from having 20 different store-fronts clogging up my computer, most of which wouldn’t have proper Linux support. If developers don’t like Steam’s terms of use then don’t use it, and best of luck selling your game that nobody ever sees.
That’s because he doesn’t have that authority. Your quote is him gently hinting to the states that they should follow his lead, but there’s nothing he can do to force them to.