Trade Cases

USTR Meets with EU Official on Steel, Aluminum Deal

Written by Ethan Bernard

July 21, 2023

US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and a lead European Commission official met on Thursday in Brussels to discuss the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, according to a press release from the USTR.

In her meeting with EC EVP Valdis Dombrovskis, “Ambassador Tai stressed the importance of both sides generating ambitious proposals in order to address shared concerns on carbon intensity and non-market excess capacity in the steel and aluminum industries,” the release said.

USTR said the US and EU “need to deliver a high-standard agreement worthy of the two years that both sides will have spent in negotiations.” The deadline for the agreement is October.

Ahead of the meeting, however, Dombrovskis said the US won’t be able to resolve its issues around steel with the EU with a deal that discriminates against other countries, according to an article in the Financial Times on Thursday.

Recall that EU and US are at odds over the EU’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that could see carbon tariffs placed on goods imported to the European Union. The US wants an exemption on CBAM.

If no deal is reached by October, it could mean the reinstatement of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products from the EU. This, in turn, could prompt retaliatory measures by the EU on US products

The meeting Thursday follows a previous meeting between the two officials on July 5 in Washington, D.C.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

Read more from Ethan Bernard

Latest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz: Trump 2.0 signals Cold War 2.0 trade and China policies

China is one of the elephants in the room as the transition to Trump 2.0 continues. While the people and policies are still being formulated, it’s possible to detect a strategy for the new Trump administration. I think there are two imperative issues that the new administration needs to balance. The Trump strategy will, I believe, follow the following points. First, trade is one of the issues that got President Trump elected in 2016 and 2024—it nearly got him elected in 2020, save for the pandemic. If President Trump had won in 2020, I might be writing chronicles about the end of his eight years in the White House now instead of projecting what the next Trump administration would accomplish or break. Oh, well—that’s life. Trade will necessarily be a key feature of relations with China for the next four years.