More Info On Trump Administration’s Section 232 Expansions

As Connecting the Dots reported last week, under his Section 232 trade powers President Trump recently issued a proclamation imposing duties on imports of certain derivatives of steel and aluminum products.

While there was little information at the time the proclamation was signed about products that would be affected, on Monday, January 27, the White House released the accompanying annexes that revealed the list of products covered by the new duties. As several news outlets put it, the number of items on list is “extremely limited.” Some items likely are substantial in terms of volume, however. Click here to read the annexes.

The law firm Kelley, Drye and Warren LLP explained that the products affected have met the following three criteria:

• On average, they derive at least two-thirds or more of their value from steel and aluminum;
• Have import volumes that rose year-to-year since June 1, 2018 (or following the imposition of the Section 232 duties) in comparison to import volumes during the two preceding years; and
• Have import volumes following the imposition of the original Section 232 tariffs that exceeded a four percent average increase in the total volume of goods imported into the United States during the same period since June 1, 2018.

The new penalties take effect February 8, 2020. They will be set at 25 percent for steel products and 10 percent for aluminum products. As noted last week, steel shipments from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea will be exempt, and aluminum imports from Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico will as well.