South Korean, U.S. Trade Ministers Meet About Relief From U.S. Metals Tariffs
The government of South Korea has requested that the United States offer relief from the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The U.S. government already has eased penalties for the European Union and is in talks with the Japanese and British governments to do so.
South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a bilateral meeting held in Washington, D.C. last Thursday.
In a press release issued after that meeting, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Ambassador Tai emphasized the challenges of global overcapacity driven by non-market practices and ongoing concerns of U.S. stakeholders as the United States focuses on existing conversations to develop a global arrangement that addresses the carbon intensity of steel and aluminum trade. The press release also said the two trade ministers agreed to work together to strengthen supply chains and promote resiliency, both to recover from the pandemic and to promote economic growth worldwide.
As a reminder, 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, in 2017 MSCI 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.