On Saturday, the United States and the European Union reached an agreement on section 232 duties being imposed because of global steel and aluminum excess capacity concerns. The trading partners have agreed that the U.S. will adjust tariffs on steel and aluminum to allow elimination of certain U.S. section 232 duties, and the EU will suspend its retaliatory tariffs.
On October 4, 2021, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative, addressed the state of U.S.- China trade relations and the upcoming plans for the Biden Administration to improve foreign trade policy. Since taking office in January, the Administration has spent time reviewing the trade policies put in place under the Trump Administration. There has been little movement until now as to the stance the Biden Administration would take, which created uncertainty regarding U.S. trade policy with China. Speculation grew as many questioned what would happen with the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports (under Section 301), how the administration would address the shortcomings of the “Phase 1” deal, and whether the product exclusion process would be re-instated.
The U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT” or “the Court”) ruled in an opinion issued on April 5, 2021, that Proclamation 9980 subjecting steel and aluminum “derivatives” to 25 percent tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. § 1862) is invalid because of a failure to comply with statutory time limits.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA) will be modified effective October 13, 2020 to require that the country where the steel was “melted and poured” to be identified in the license application. Other changes in the final rule published on September 11, 2020, include adding coverage for eight
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a Federal Register Notice on May, 19, 2020, inviting comments from interested parties on its investigation regarding the potential expansion of Section 232 tariffs to include imports of steel incorporated into electrical transformers. Comments on the investigation may be submitted on or before June
On February 28, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Court of International Trade’s decision that found the institution of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum were not an unconstitutional delegation of authority by Congress to the President under Supreme Court precedent. This appeal addressed the basic steel and aluminum
Why importers of steel and aluminum derivative products should consider challenging the administration’s imposition of additional Section 232 duties:
In a surprise announcement after hours on Friday January 24, 2020, the White House announced that it plans to impose an additional 25 percent tariff on some steel articles and 10 percent on some aluminum articles starting February 8, 2020 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. A proclamation issued by the
President Trump unexpectedly announced via Twitter on Monday, December 02, 2019 that the 25% Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs that were enforced globally in 2018 would be reinstated on imports from Argentina and Brazil, claiming that a “massive devaluation” of the countries’ currencies has given them an unfair trade advantage. Like Canada and Mexico,
On May 17, 2019, after numerous rounds of negotiations, the United States, Canada, and Mexico issued formal statements on lifting duties on Section 232 steel and aluminum products. While Canada and the U.S. explicitly stated that their respective tariffs would be lifted within the next two days, Mexico has yet to announce how quickly their retaliatory tariffs would end.