Five organizations representing the American steel industry today wrote to President Trump to express strong support for restoring 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and eliminating the exclusion process as part of a new Section 232 tariff program.
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association (USOMA) today sent a joint letter to the president reiterating the steel industry’s support for steel tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and for “the elimination of the steel Section 232 exclusion process that has been exploited as a loophole by foreign producers seeking to avoid tariffs.”
In 2018, President Trump implemented 25 percent tariffs on imports of steel and 10 percent imports on aluminum, which were later in 2020 expanded to cover certain derivative products for steel and aluminum. On Feb.10 this year, Trump announced that tariffs would be levied on all nations except Russia to 25 percent for steel and aluminum and the existing product exclusion application process was dropped. Russian tariffs will remain unchanged at 200 percent, while all quotas, national exemptions and general exemptions will be dropped when the new program begins on March 12.
The industry letter highlighted that the comprehensive steel tariffs, initially implemented by President Trump in 2018, allowed the American steel industry to restart idled mills, rehire laid-off workers and begin investing tens of billions of dollars in new and upgraded plants.
However, the letter states, “Over the subsequent years many country-wide and product-specific exemptions to the tariffs were granted, eroding the effectiveness of the steel Section 232 measures….The degradation of the Section 232 tariffs and out-of-control global excess steel production led to increases in steel imports and imports of downstream derivative products, once again threatening the viability of domestic steel producers and US. national security.”
“We welcome and applaud your actions to restore the integrity of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and your commitment to restoring a level playing field for American steel producers and their workers,” the groups concluded.