Trade Cases

Brazilian Ambassador Seeks Removal of Section 232
Written by Laura Miller
October 31, 2022
The Brazilian ambassador to the US said it’s time for the removal of Section 232 tariffs and quotas in an editorial sent to the Wall Street Journal.
The 232 tariffs and quotas have been in effect for more than four years – since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum in the name of national security. Some countries, Brazil is one example, agreed to a hard quota in exchange for an exemption to the 25% tariff on steel.
Nestor Forster Jr., Brazilian ambassador to the US, wrote in an Oct. 30 WSJ op-ed that removal of Section 232 “would be an example of a win-win measure, with positive effects on production costs, gross domestic product and employment levels in the US and Brazil.”
Forster points out that Brazil is the second largest importer of met coal produced in the US and that nearly 85% of US imports of Brazilian steel are semifinished products going into the construction and auto industries. Removal of Section 232 is “long overdue,” he said.
Forster’s comments come in response to an op-ed published by WSJ’s Editorial Board just days before titled “Call Them the Biden-Trump Tariffs Now.”
Brazil’s hard quota on steel products for the 2022 year is approximately 4,622,164 tons with quarterly limits, according to US Customs and Border Control’s quota bulletins.
Year-to-date through Oct. 25, Brazil has sent just under 2.3 million short tons of steel products to the US, based on US government data. That figure includes September’s preliminary count and October’s import license count through Oct. 25.
Not long after imposition of the 232 tariffs, an agreement was reached to exempt Canada, Mexico, and Australia from the tariffs. Brazil, Argentina, and South Korea agreed to hard quotas, and tariff rate quota (TRQ) agreements have also now been reached with the European Union, Japan, and the UK to replace the traditional 232 tariffs.
By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Trade Cases

ITC votes to keep HR duties after sunset review
The US government determined this week that hot-rolled steel imports from a handful of countries continue to threaten the domestic steel industry.

Steel Summit: Zekelman advocates for ‘Fortress North America’
Barry Zekelman has a unique vantage point from which to view today’s trade landscape. A Canadian national who owns operations in both the US and Canada, he has also had dialogue with both Canadian and American administrations.

Steel Summit: Execs urge clarity on trade/tariff policy, want stronger USMCA
Tariff policy dominated the discussion of the SMU Steel Summit trade panel on Tuesday afternoon. The message was clear: uncertainty is rattling the steel supply chain.

Final AD/CVD margins announced in coated steel trade case
The Commerce Department announced the final anti-dumping and countervailing duty (CVD) margins in the sprawling trade case investigating corrosion-resistant steel imports.

Canada agrees to drop most retaliatory tariffs
Canada has agreed to drop some retaliatory tariffs on US products, effective Sept. 1.