Congressional Steel Caucus Asks White House To Keep Section 232 Tariffs

Last week, Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and Vice Chairman Frank J. Mrvan (D-Ind.) wrote a letter to the Biden administration asking that President Joe Biden keep the Section 232 steel tariffs and quotas in place. About three dozen other members of the caucus also signed the letter.

The lawmakers said the steel industry “continues to face numerous challenges, from government-supported overcapacity in global markets, to circumvention of trade measures designed to address market distortions, to supply chain risks that further threaten the erosion of the U.S. manufacturing base and geopolitical uncertainties.”

Without offering details, the lawmakers also asked the Biden administration to consider efforts to modernize federal trade remedy laws to address the current challenges the steel industry faces.

Click here to read the full letter.

As a reminder, when it comes to Section 232 tariffs, Connecting the Dots is reporting the results of this case for members’ information 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.