Trade Cases

Mexico GOES Tariff Free

Written by Sandy Williams


Mexico has agreed to strictly monitor exports of grain-oriented electrical steel in lieu of trade restrictions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

A Nov. 5 statement from the U.S. Trade Representative said, “In light of these measures, imports from Mexico will not be subject to any action to adjust imports of electrical transformers and related parts that may be adopted by the United States under Section 232.”

The U.S. and Mexico will consult regularly on the implementation of the measures and on bilateral and trade conditions relating to GOES products.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that the influx of low-priced steel from third countries imperils North America’s electrical steel production capability. He praised his Mexican counterpart, Secretary of Economy Graciela Márquez Colín, for working to find “cooperative solutions to a common regional challenge.”

The Department of Commerce self-initiated a Section 232 investigation on imports of laminations for stacked transformer cores, stacked and wound transformer cores, electrical transformers and transformer regulators. The laminates are made of grain-oriented electrical steel.

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Price: Should billions in Section 232 revenue go to foreign manufacturers or to the American people?

Do we want the benefits of the Section 232 tariffs to flow to the bottom lines of foreign steel and aluminum producers or to the US government and, ultimately, domestic manufacturers and their workers? In our view, the answer is simple. Section 232 exceptions do nothing more than lead to underserved profits for foreign manufacturers who are harming the US industrial base. That revenue could be used to pursue the Trump administration’s other policy priorities - such as deficit reduction or expanded tax cuts.