Trade Cases
Trump refutes tariff pare-down report
Written by Laura Miller
January 6, 2025
The incoming Trump administration is reportedly considering paring back the president-elect’s plans for universal tariffs.
While imports of all products may not face tariffs after all, the administration is apparently still mulling them for sectors critical to the nation’s defense and national security – including steel and aluminum – according to the Washington Post.
Three anonymous sources close to the matter told the Post that Trump aides are reviewing alternative tariff arrangements, including levies on ‘critical imports’ from all countries.
While no final decisions have been made yet, “Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States,” the newspaper reported the sources as saying.
“Those include the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper) … and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels,” the Post wrote.
“The sector-based universal tariff is a little bit easier for everybody to stomach out the gate,” one source told the Post. “And it would still give CEOs a massive incentive to start making their products here.”
Trump says that’s “Fake News”
However, President-elect Trump quickly refuted the WaPo report.
“The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back,” Trump said in a Jan. 6 post on Truth Social. “That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News.”
Section 232 tariffs still in play
Recall that President Trump imposed Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) in his first term. Some countries, like Canada and Mexico, were later excluded from the duties, while others, like Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, negotiated for tariff rate quotas, and Argentina, Brazil, and South Korea have absolute quotas. Those are still in place.
From their start in 2018 through Oct. 30, 2024, US importers paid S232 taxes of $14.07 billion to import steel and $4.28 billion to import aluminum products, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Trade Cases
Canadian steelmakers call for protection after US adds derivatives to S232
The Canadian Steel Producers Association expressed dismay upon the news that the Trump administration had added over 400 products to the list of derivative products covered by the 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.
China opens WTO dispute with Canada over steel, aluminum
China has requested dispute consultations with Canada at the WTO about Canadian measures on Chinese steel and aluminum imports.
Inclusion requests result in 400+ additions to S232’s derivatives list
The Commerce Department has added over 400 HTS codes to the list of steel and aluminum derivative products covered under the Section 232 tariffs.
Leibowitz on Trade: The New World Orders
The question of the new world order was on many minds last week when I spoke on another SMU Community Chat. The short answer is that nobody knows in detail what the effects of all the economic and geopolitical developments will be.
Canadian agency launches OCTG import probe
Canada has launched an investigation into the alleged dumping of imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) by five countries – Korea, the Philippines, Turkey, Mexico, and the United States.