Trade Cases

Brazilian Ambassador Seeks Removal of Section 232
Written by Laura Miller
October 31, 2022
The Brazilian ambassador to the US said it’s time for the removal of Section 232 tariffs and quotas in an editorial sent to the Wall Street Journal.
The 232 tariffs and quotas have been in effect for more than four years – since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum in the name of national security. Some countries, Brazil is one example, agreed to a hard quota in exchange for an exemption to the 25% tariff on steel.
Nestor Forster Jr., Brazilian ambassador to the US, wrote in an Oct. 30 WSJ op-ed that removal of Section 232 “would be an example of a win-win measure, with positive effects on production costs, gross domestic product and employment levels in the US and Brazil.”
Forster points out that Brazil is the second largest importer of met coal produced in the US and that nearly 85% of US imports of Brazilian steel are semifinished products going into the construction and auto industries. Removal of Section 232 is “long overdue,” he said.
Forster’s comments come in response to an op-ed published by WSJ’s Editorial Board just days before titled “Call Them the Biden-Trump Tariffs Now.”
Brazil’s hard quota on steel products for the 2022 year is approximately 4,622,164 tons with quarterly limits, according to US Customs and Border Control’s quota bulletins.
Year-to-date through Oct. 25, Brazil has sent just under 2.3 million short tons of steel products to the US, based on US government data. That figure includes September’s preliminary count and October’s import license count through Oct. 25.
Not long after imposition of the 232 tariffs, an agreement was reached to exempt Canada, Mexico, and Australia from the tariffs. Brazil, Argentina, and South Korea agreed to hard quotas, and tariff rate quota (TRQ) agreements have also now been reached with the European Union, Japan, and the UK to replace the traditional 232 tariffs.
By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Trade Cases

Supply chains, end-users brace for impact from tariffs
Supply chains are working through what the tariffs mean for them

Breaking News: Commerce releases prelim anti-dumping duties in sweeping trade case targeting CORE imports
The US Commerce Department on Friday released preliminary anti-dumping margins in a trade case targeted imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. Certain countries and mills were hammered while others were largely spared. Brazilian steelmaker CSN, for example, received a preliminary rate of 137.76%. Some Turkish mills – including Boreclik and ArcelorMittal Celik Ticaret – received no dumping margin at all.

CRU: Trump’s sweeping tariffs could derail the US met coal industry
Latest tariffs could lead to US metallurgical coal exporters (many already high-cost swing producers) being priced out of the market.

Tariff fallout: Canada strikes back, Stellantis idles, GM boosts production
Canada imposes auto tariffs, while automaker Stellantis temporarily idles some plants.

Commerce tags UAE with ‘critical circumstances’ in CORE trade case, South Africa spared
The Commerce Department has made a preliminary determination that ‘critical circumstances’ exist for certain imports of corrosion-resistant (CORE) flat-rolled steel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Commerce decided that critical circumstances did not apply to CORE from South Africa. The department also found that critical circumstances did not apply to CORE from UAE producers Al-Ghurair Iron & Steel LLC and United Iron & Steel Company LLC.