With the Trump administration’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports scheduled to take effect March 12, five organizations representing the American steel industry say they support restoring 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and eliminating the exclusion process for that tariff program.
The groups sent a joint letter to the president March 10 reiterating support for steel tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
“We applaud this broad tariff coverage as well as the elimination of the steel Section 232 exclusion process that has been exploited as a loophole by foreign producers seeking to avoid tariffs,” wrote the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Specialty Steel Industry of North America, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and the United States OCTG Manufacturers Association.
In their letter, the groups pointed out that the steel tariffs initially implemented by Trump in 2018 allowed the American steel industry to restart idled mills, rehire laid-off workers, and spurred investments of tens of billions of dollars in new and upgraded plants.
“Over the subsequent years many country-wide and product-specific exemptions to the tariffs were granted, eroding the effectiveness of the steel Section 232 measures,” they wrote. “The degradation of the Section 232 tariffs and out-of-control global excess steel production led to increases in steel imports and imports of downstream derivative products, once again threatening the viability of domestic steel producers and U.S. national security.”
At the same time, the groups are also concerned that certain countries have been working in concert with the Chinese government-owned steel industry to evade duties against China, and they asked Trump to consider taking swift additional tariff action against imports from these countries if import surges occur after March 12.
“We welcome and applaud your actions to restore the integrity of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and your commitment to restoring a level playing field for American steel producers and their workers,” the groups wrote.