Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican who has homed in on Commerce Department oversight on Section 232 exclusions, wrote to the agency March 3 questioning the legality of expanding the enforcement action to steel and aluminum derivative articles. “A sudden announcement on a Friday evening is not befitting such a dramatic paradigm shift from tariffs only on raw materials to now include downstream products as well,” she wrote.
Section 232 Tariffs
The United States currently maintains a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on tariff on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed Section 232 Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States, citing national security concerns. The U.S. agreed to lift tariffs on Canada and Mexico after the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and reached deals with the European Union, Japan and other countries to replace the tariffs with quotas for steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.
Four more importers have now filed lawsuits challenging Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives,” and one of them has already been successful in obtaining a court order blocking liquidation of their entries, if not collection of the tariffs. New Supplies and GJ Burkhart (dba Fry Fastening Systems) together filed a suit at the Court of International Trade Feb. 25. Represented by Brenda Jacobs, they told the court that the Justice Department had agreed to an order directing CBP to suspend liquidation until the case is eventually decided. CIT granted the motion and issued the order on Feb. 28.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 24 - March 1:
The European Union's Committee on International Trade Chairman Bernd Lange, in a roundtable with trade reporters Feb. 27, said that he asked officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative if there's any truth to rumors that the U.S. will either pull out of the government procurement agreement at the World Trade Organization, or that it will seek to raise its bound tariffs, a process that would begin at the WTO. “I got confirmation from all stakeholders this will not happen,” said Lange, who was in Washington to talk with officials from USTR, Congress, unions and think tanks. But, he added, “sometimes decisions in the United States are taken quite quick,” so he can't be sure that answer will be true next week.
A Canadian government analysis of NAFTA's replacement -- known as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement in that country -- estimates that it will increase Canadian GDP by just under 0.25% over five years. The estimate is based on comparing CUSMA to a withdrawal from NAFTA, not from the present trade deal.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 17-23:
Correction: The Justice Department did not admit that PrimeSource is likely to succeed on the merits in its challenge to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives,” as part of its agreement on a preliminary injunction temporarily stopping collection of the duties on entries from PrimeSource (see 2002200025).
A third importer has now requested a court order blocking collection of new Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum “derivatives," and two others are not far behind. Huttig Building Products filed a lawsuit at the Court of International Trade on Feb. 18 challenging the new tariffs, and a day later asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would bar imposition of the tariffs on entries from Huttig and its affiliate while the court considers the legal challenge. Astrotech Steels and Trinity Steel filed their own complaints on Feb. 20, though as of press time they had not yet asked the court to order a halt to the tariffs.
The International Trade Commission recently issued two new revisions to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes include new and amended exclusions from Section 301 tariffs from China, as well as a decrease in tariffs for goods on list 4A. The ITC also implemented new Section 232 tariffs on some finished goods of steel and aluminum that took effect Feb. 8, as well as a shift to a quarterly tariff-rate quota for imports of large residential washers subject to Section 201 safeguard duties.
Correction: A preliminary injunction issued Feb. 13 by the Court of International Trade says CBP cannot collect “duty deposits” entries of goods from a single importer, PrimeSource, for new Section 232 tariffs on finished steel and aluminum products that took effect Feb. 8.