Trade Cases
Brazil Takes Quota on Steel But Tariff on Aluminum
Written by Sandy Williams
May 3, 2018
Brazil says it will agree to quotas on finished and semi-finished steel exports to the U.S. in return for exemption from the 25 percent Section 232 tariffs, according to Inside U.S. Trade. Brazil is the latest country to capitulate to U.S. demands, agreeing to a quota of 70 percent of its three-year average exports of finished steel and 100 percent of exports of semi-finished steel.
“Faced with the decision announced by the U.S., the representatives of the aluminum sector indicated that the less harmful alternative to their interests was to endure the additional tariffs of 10% that were originally foreseen,” the Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Foreign Relations Ministry said in a May 1 press release. “On the other hand, the representatives of the steel sector informed that the imposition of quotas would be less restrictive than the 25% tariff.”
Negotiations were cut short last week by the U.S. after telling Brazil’s foreign and trade ministers that the tariffs would be applied immediately unless the country accepted “restrictive unilateral quotas.”
“They said the decision was made on the eve of a presidential meeting, that the political conditions had changed, and there were no longer the conditions to keep negotiating as we had been,” said Brazil Institute President Marco Polo De Melo Lopes to journalists in a conference call on Wednesday. “Take it or leave it isn’t the way you treat a partner.”
The quotas will reduce Brazilian steel exports to the U.S. by 14.5 percent compared to 2017 levels, according to Inside US Trade and Commerce data.
“Brazilian products do not pose a threat to U.S. national security,” said a joint press release issued by Brazil’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Foreign Relations Ministry. “On the contrary, the industries of both countries are integrated and complement each other.”
“The Brazilian government regrets that the negotiating process has been interrupted and reiterates that it remains open to building reasonable solutions for both parties. Furthermore, it reiterates its conviction that any restrictive measures would not be necessary and would not be justified under any circumstances,” said the release.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
China Has Failed to Comply With WTO Commitments: AISI
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has laid out a case for China’s failure to comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, which it joined in 2001.
Deputy USTR Hits Out at ‘Surge’ of Mexican Steel Imports
Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jayme White met on Wednesday with Mexico’s Under Secretary of Economy for Foreign Trade Alejandro Encinas, and discussed issues regarding the “surge” into the US of Mexican steel and aluminum imports.
Leibowitz: Europe Aims to Impose Countervailing Duties on EVs From China
Trade policy moves create great ironies sometimes. I often write about these ironies when the US acts against the interests of the country as a whole by protecting certain industries from international competition. But the US is not alone, especially in recent years as the World Trade Organization and the international geopolitical order have been […]
Leibowitz: Banning Inputs and Components—Effective Policy or Not?
As the global trading system, which used to be “rules-based,” continues its slide toward the absence (defiance? disregard?) of rules, governments around the world are trying new things.
Leibowitz: Warming Commercial Relations? The Raimondo Visit to China
Last week the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, visited China for high-level meetings with the Chinese government. Her counterpart, Wang Wentao, China’s Commerce Minister, participated in the discussions. The four-day meeting included an announcement of two new working groups dealing with US-China economic relationships. The first was a forum to explain US export controls relating […]