White House Extends Suspension Of Penalties For Steel Coming From Ukraine
The Biden administration announced last week that it had extended the federal government’s suspension of Section 232 tariffs on steel and derivative steel products coming into the United States from Ukraine. The extension will last through June 1, 2025 and will also apply to steel articles from the European Union that are made from steel melted and poured in Ukraine. Imports must be accompanied by a certificate of origin, however.
The proclamation comes after U.S. Secretary of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo determined Ukraine’s steel industry continues to be significantly “disrupted by the Russian Federation’s unjustified, unprovoked, unyielding, and unconscionable war against Ukraine” and that “the significant disruption in Ukraine’s steel production has decreased the total amount of steel produced by Ukraine.” Specifically, the amount of steel imported into the United States from Ukraine decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, and it is still below the average import volume prior to 2021. The U.S. Department of Commerce also found that, in 2023, the amount of steel imported into the United States from Ukraine accounted for less than one percent of all steel imports into the United States.
The proclamation concluded by arguing the “steel industry has been historically important to Ukraine, and both the United States and Ukraine have an interest in maintaining that industry as an economic lifeline while the country recovers.”
As a reminder, when it comes to breaking news about Section 232 tariffs and other penalties, unless otherwise stated, Connecting the Dots is merely reporting information for members’ benefit 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.