After the US suspended duties on CRC imports from Brazil, as previously reported by SteelOrbis, the Brazilian steel institute, IABr, is reportedly preparing a delegation to the US to discuss alternatives to improve the agreement.
According to the institute, the suspension of the duties is important, but the agreement refers to only 50,000 mt per year of the product, while the imports of Brazilian slab from the US is currently limited to a quota of 3.5 million mt per year.
The main target of the mission will be the expansion of the current slab tax-free quota, which in their view would benefit the US steel industry, as it is dependent on slab imports to feed their rolling activities.
The mission would also ask for the change the quota grade from today’s “hard” to “soft,” as Brazil is currently forbidden to export steel products to the US when the quota is filled, while with the soft quota, additional volumes can be exported, provided that the 25 percent import tariff is paid.
Another objective of the mission would be the expansion of the current quota of finished steel products exported to the US, currently limited to 687,000 mt per year.
