Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: In a tweet today, President Trump announced new tariffs on essentially all the $300 billion in imports from China not already covered by the Section 301 tariffs. The tariff of 10 percent will take effect Sept. 1. I […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Recent reports indicate that parts of the U.S. steel industry are being helped by the steel tariffs, while others are being hurt. Sixteen months into the trade war, the division of steel producers into three distinct industries (and perhaps […]
The European Union has prepared a list of nearly $40 billion (€35 billion) in U.S. goods it will hit with retaliatory duties should President Trump decide to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported cars and auto parts. EU Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malstrom said the list of targeted goods has been raised from €20 billion […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: President Trump made news this week, announcing potential changes to the Buy American Act regulations. The changes could give additional advantages in government procurement to domestically produced steel products. The Buy American Act was signed into law by […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled today that imports of steel propane cylinders from China and Thailand are causing injury to the domestic industry, marking a victory for U.S. producers including Worthington Industries and Manchester Tank and Equipment. The ITC’s final determination places dumping and subsidy margins of 37-217 percent on China and 10.77 percent […]
“Discouraged” is how the Canadian Steel Producers Association described its reaction to President Trump’s executive order on sourcing of steel for federal projects in the United States. Increasing the use of American-sourced steel from 50 percent to 95 percent is “a step in the wrong direction,” said CSPA President Catherine Cobden in comments to ConstructConnect. […]
To stiffen his Buy American policies, President Trump signed an executive order on Monday raising the threshold for American-made steel used in federal projects from 50 percent to 95 percent. The executive order states that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council is to “consider proposing” within 180 days amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Happy Bastille Day!! On Friday afternoon, which is traditionally the time to bury inconvenient news, the White House announced that President Trump had rejected the advice of the Secretary of Commerce to impose import restrictions on uranium trade. The […]
The final draft of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is not likely to be submitted to Congress until after Sept. 1, setting up possible ratification by the end of the year. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is waiting until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assures him there are enough votes to pass the agreement in the House. Once […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Companies have filed thousands of requests seeking exclusions from the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, claiming the products they require are not available from domestic sources in the quantities or qualities required. The steel product […]
A new tariff on fabricated structural steel from Mexico adds another complication to U.S./Mexico relations, but is not expected to threaten ratification of the USMCA. The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling in a countervailing investigation that U.S. producers are being harmed by imports of fabricated structural steel from Mexico and China. Canada […]
The U.S. is taking issue with retaliatory tariffs imposed by India in response to the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. In a request for consultation with the World Trade Organization, the U.S claims that India is violating Articles 1:1 and Article II 1(a) and (b) of GATT 1994. India issued an […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced duties of up to 456 percent in three preliminary circumvention rulings today involving exports of steel products from Vietnam. The circumvention rulings cover certain steel products that are first produced in Korea and Taiwan, then shipped to Vietnam for minor processing, and finally exported to the United States as […]
The Canadian Parliament passed an act on June 21 that will amend the Customers Tariff and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act regarding safeguard measures. The House of Commons and Senates pushed through an amendment that temporarily repeals a two-year waiting period before government authorities can reinstate safeguard measures on the same products. Canada recently […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Saturday in Osaka, Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed not to impose any new trade restrictions and to resume negotiations on a general agreement to resolve their ongoing disputes. There are a […]
The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a challenge to the president’s use of Section 232 tariffs, declining to review a March CIT ruling. In June 2018, the American Institute of International Steel and two of its member companies challenged the constitutionality of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, charging the act provides […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The lawsuit filed almost exactly one year ago challenging Section 232 has been turned down by the Supreme Court. AIIS and the other plaintiffs in the case, which was decided in favor of the government last March, asked the […]
Mexico voted to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Wednesday, paving the path for Canada and the U.S, to follow suit. The vote by the Mexican senate was nearly unanimous at 114 to 4 with three senators abstaining. Although some senators expressed concern about capricious tariff threats from the U.S. president, the sentiment was generally […]
Beginning today, a new portal is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce for those who need to file exclusion requests under the Section 232 measures on steel and aluminum. Companies can request to have products they import excluded from the 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum if their needs […]
Mexico will not have to face tariffs from the U.S. after coming to an agreement with the Trump administration on immigration. The 5 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico was scheduled to begin Monday, but the president called off the punitive measures in a tweet on Friday evening. Said Trump on Twitter: “I […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday evening, President Trump announced that he was suspending “indefinitely” the tariffs on goods imported from Mexico to the United States. The outlines of the deal that had this result have been announced, but there are no […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Happy Father’s Day, all you Dads! Several items of interest appeared during the past week: Steel and Aluminum Product Exclusions—The Commerce Department announced a new “232 Exclusion Portal” in a notice it published on June 10. The new […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum came under new scrutiny last week. A Supreme Court decision and an announcement by U.S. Steel were key developments. First, U.S. Steel announced the idling of two blast furnaces, due […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison During the last two years, we have become somewhat accustomed to waking up to some fresh, new policy idea of the Trump administration, disseminated via presidential tweet. However, the levying of tariffs on Mexican imports, as punishment for Mexico allowing Central American migrants to traverse their country in order […]
A Mexican delegation led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard is in Washington trying to convince the Trump administration that tariffs are not the solution to stopping illegal immigration. On Friday, President Trump announced that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico, with 5 percent monthly increases capped at 25 […]
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary (June 1) of full implementation of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports: The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) is encouraged by the termination of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and […]
Promises of steel tariff relief were short-lived for Mexico as President Trump’s latest tariff move adds new penalties and dashes hopes for quick ratification of the USMCA. Trump announced on Thursday that 5 percent tariffs will be imposed June 10 on all Mexican goods, including steel, until such time that Mexico stops the influx of […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: President Trump announced his intention to impose new tariffs on imports from Mexico on Thursday afternoon. Beginning June 10, 5 percent tariffs will be imposed on all imports of goods from Mexico. On the first of July, the […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Asked a Steel Market Update reader: Why are U.S. prices now so far below China’s tariff-adjusted prices? The short answer is that Chinese exports to the U.S. are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) totaling more than […]
Major steel producers in the U.S. had hoped the president wouldn’t blink on the Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico—but he did—in an apparent effort to clear the way for passage of the new North American free trade agreement. Now the mills are supporting the administration’s demand that steel trade in North America be […]