President Donald Trump plans to bring back the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina, he said in a tweet. "Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers," he said. "Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries."
Section 232 Tariffs
The United States currently maintains a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on tariff on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed Section 232 Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States, citing national security concerns. The U.S. agreed to lift tariffs on Canada and Mexico after the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and reached deals with the European Union, Japan and other countries to replace the tariffs with quotas for steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.
The Office of the U.S Trade Representative issued some new product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on the third list of products from China, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website Nov. 26. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 24, 2018, the date the tariffs on the third list took effect, and will remain in effect until Aug. 7, 2020. New subheading 9903.88.35 will be used for these products.
The steel and aluminum tariffs should end as part of any Section 232 reform, a coalition of metal consumers is arguing. The Coalition of American Manufacturers and Users, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the National Foreign Trade Council and two other trade associations sent a letter Nov. 19 to the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee. They were reacting to a statement by Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that any reform would not address the steel and aluminum tariffs (see 1911050043). “Reforming the 232 statute without allowing for an end to the current steel and aluminum tariffs would ensure that this harm continues with no end in sight," the groups said. Grassley and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., should "include a sunsetting provision that addresses current 232 tariffs in the mark that goes before the Senate Finance Committee to allow for a debate on these harmful tariffs and to ensure all stakeholders have a voice in the process."
Increased Section 232 duties on steel products from Turkey may be invalid or even unconstitutional, the Court of International Trade said in a Nov. 15 decision. Denying the government’s motion to dismiss an importer's challenge of the 50 percent duty, which was dropped back to 25 percent in May (see 1905170004), the court said Transpacific Steel raises arguments that may lead to a refund of the additional duties in the CIT’s final decision.
CBP has assessed about $46.4 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Nov. 13, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $36.8 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China and $34.7 million duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from the EU (see 1910020044). CBP also has assessed about $6.4 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.8 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1.2 billion in assessed tariffs.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said a bill reforming Section 232 won't be introduced in his committee until after the Senate votes on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, because, he said, that vote is a political complication for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Grassley, who was responding to a question from International Trade Today Nov. 12, said he doesn't think Wyden has a problem with the NAFTA rewrite, but that "it's a problem for Democrats generally, and I think he's got that to work with, and needs more time on 232. And I’m willing to give him more time, because I don’t see how I can move productively ahead without his cooperation."
The Inspector General at the Commerce Department criticized some actions at the Bureau of Industry and Security in granting or denying Section 232 exclusions from steel tariffs and quotas and from aluminum tariffs. The memo, published Oct. 28, said that department officials and interested parties had conversations that were not part of the official record of requests or objections, and "following some of these off-record communications, Department officials took subsequent action consistent with such communications, giving the appearance that the Section 232 exclusion request review process is not transparent and that decisions are not rendered based on evidence contained in the record."
The idea that the U.S. might lower de minimis for Canadian and Mexican shipments, because those countries did not raise their thresholds as much as the U.S. wanted, is not going to be part of the NAFTA rewrite, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Oct. 29.
The World Trade Organization will convene a dispute settlement panel to judge whether India had the right to impose tariffs on apples, almonds, motorcycles and other products (see 1906170053). The panel was approved for formation in Geneva Oct. 29. Under the additional tariffs, American apples are taxed at 70 percent, compared with 50 percent for other countries' apple exports; the tariff on almonds and walnuts increased by 20 percentage points; and chickpeas and lentils have an additional 10 percentage points of duties. Most of these products are imported at low volumes, but India projected that it would collect more than $100 million in tariffs on almonds in the shell, and more than $20 million on apples. India says it is justified because the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are really safeguards to protect American mills and foundries, not national security measures. India is one of many countries involved in litigation at the WTO over the steel and aluminum tariffs -- others include Norway, Russia, the 28 countries of the European Union and China.
CBP has assessed about $43 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of Oct. 2, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $34 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, up around $3 billion from about a month ago. The assessed tariffs under Section 301 now include the 15 percent tariffs that took effect on Sept. 1 (see 1908270066). CBP also has assessed about $6.3 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.8 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $1.1 billion in assessed tariffs.