Five organizations representing the American steel industry today wrote to President Trump to reiterate their strong support for the Section 232 steel tariffs and the program’s expanded coverage, and to urge retention of the steel tariffs during ongoing bilateral negotiations on other tariffs.
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI), Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA) and American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) this morning sent a joint letter to the president applauding “bold action to increase the tariffs to 50 percent” and requesting that the administration not grant special arrangements “to foreign countries that would eliminate or reduce steel Section 232 tariff coverage” as negotiations on the administration’s proposed reciprocal tariffs continue.
“The Section 232 steel tariffs remain critical for the American steel industry, as global steel market conditions remain challenging and industry capacity utilization remains below the 80 percent utilization goal identified in the Commerce Department’s 2018 Section 232 report,” the letter states, adding that foreign government subsidies and other unfair trade practices have led to increased overproduction of steel in foreign markets.
“Unfortunately, rather than taking actions to address the impact of the global steel overcapacity crisis in their own markets, many of our trading partners seem focused on negotiating unwarranted exemptions to the US Section 232 steel tariffs. We have seen reports of requests from many governments, including Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, for exemptions from the Section 232 steel tariffs as part of their negotiating positions regarding the reciprocal tariffs. Given that the reciprocal tariffs and the related negotiations are intended to reduce the trade deficits the US has with other countries and address the policy changes other nations need to take in order to provide greater market access for US goods and services, there is no basis for negotiating away the steel tariffs as part of these reciprocal tariff negotiations,” the groups stated.