U.S. Senator Renews Calls To Address Surge Of Mexican Steel Exports
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has once again asked Biden administration officials to take action to address a surge in steel imports into the United States from Mexico. The surge has been attributed by the senator and many others to the Chinese government routing steel through Mexico in order to avoid the United States’ Section 232 tariffs.
Sen. Brown said Congress act if the White House does not. “[W]e’re seeing how this surge is hurting Ohio workers and American workers,” explained Sen. Brown. “We must pass our bipartisan legislation to reinstate tariffs on Mexican steel. I will keep pushing the president to take action to force Mexico to stem its steel surge now, and raising the alarm about the alarming rise in Chinese still coming into the country through Mexico.” Sen. Brown is the co-author of a bipartisan bill that, if enacted into law, would compel the Biden administration to reinstate Section 232 tariffs, which were set at 25 percent for steel by the Trump administration, on steel imported from Mexico.
In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and other Biden administration officials, Sen. Brown noted Mexican imports of Chinese steel and iron products into the United States doubled between 2015 and 2023 and that Mexico is on pace to export more than three times its historic volume of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States in 2024. The letter argued, “aggressive action is imperative.”
Click here to read Sen. Brown’s press release and letter.
As a reminder, when it comes to breaking news about Section 232 tariffs and other penalties, unless otherwise stated, Connecting the Dots is merely reporting information for MSCI members’ benefit only.
MSCI consistently has argued that global overcapacity and other unfair trading practices, particularly by China, have harmed the U.S. steel and aluminum markets. To address this circumvention, MSCI has advised federal officials to provide relief for producers up and down the supply chain and to consider the consequences of any new trade policy, including: the economic impact of global overcapacity on the entire domestic metals supply chain; transition times and implementation rules to any new policy; availability of domestic metals to meet U.S. national security needs, as well as general industrial and consumer demand; and trade flows under current free trade agreements, including the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). MSCI also asked that Canada and Mexico be excluded from any trade penalties.
Click here to review all of MSCI’s advocacy on Section 232 tariffs.