US ends steel, aluminum import tariff exemption on EU, Canada, Mexico

Washington: The US today announced the end of exemption on steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from European Union, Canada and Mexico.

The EU, Canada and Mexico have threatened retaliation after US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that exemptions on steel and aluminum import tariffs would end on June 1.

President Donald Trump had announced in March to impose an import tariff of 25 per cent on steel and 15 per cent on aluminum, based on addressing the perceived threat to national security. On April 30, he extended for 30 days the temporary exemption from the steel and aluminum tariffs for Canada, Mexico and the EU to allow for further negotiation.

Ross said that while not much progress has been made in negotiations with the European Union, the NAFTA negotiations with Canada and Mexico is taking longer than expected.

We look forward to continued negotiations with Canada and Mexico on one hand and with the European Commission on the other hand as there are other issues we need to get resolved, the commerce secretary said.

While the imposition of 25 per cent duty on import of steel and 15 per cent on aluminum was intended to target the Chinese industry, the new tariff policy looks like it has hit close friends and allies of the US. Ross denied this impression and said that there has been transshipment of Chinese steel and aluminum.

The Trump administration has granted indefinite exemptions to Argentina, Australia and Brazil, given agreements in principle reached with those trading partners. South Korea also received a permanent exemption from steel tariffs, having negotiated instead an absolute quota equivalent to 70 per cent of 2015-2017 imports. South Korea has not negotiated an exemption for its aluminum exports.