U.S., EU Officials To Discuss Section 232 Tariffs This Week

As Reuters reported, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced last week that she will accompany President Joe Biden to Brussels this week for “intense negotiations” to try to resolve trade disputes over aircraft subsidies and Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. As Reuters also said, the European Union is hoping the two governments might reach an agreement to end the penalties on products from its member countries. It does appears that the Biden administration might be ready to agree to that request.

According to SteelOrbis a draft agreement between the two governments would end the steel and aluminum tariffs by December 1, 2021. No additional details are available regarding this agreement.

Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots next week for any news that comes out of the meeting.

The report of a U.S.-EU agreement came after Reuters said the EU plans to impose tariffs on imports of goods, including steel, in an effort to address climate change. Reuters reported, “The European Commission is due to propose its carbon border tariff policy on July 14, a move designed to put EU firms on an equal footing with competitors in countries with weaker carbon policies than those of the 27-nation bloc.”

In related news: the EU announced last week that it will extend the safeguard measures on imports of steel products for an additional three years and allow for a three percent annual liberalization of the tariff-rate quotas. Read more at S&P Global Platts.

PLEASE NOTE: MSCI is reporting the following data for its members’ information only.

As Connecting the Dots has reminded readers before, 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.

Click here to review all of MSCI’s advocacy on Section 232 tariffs.