US Announces More Country Exemptions for Metals Tariffs

US Representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee late last week that products from the European Union, Australia, Argentina, South Korea and Brazil would be exempted from tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum that went into effect March 23, while negotiations over other potential exemptions continue. Trump already had exempted Canada and Mexico from the import levies for the duration of talks aimed at renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a twist, the Trump administration said it might impose import quotas to prevent too much foreign metal from flooding into the United States.Also, the White House gave allies that won exemptions a May 1 deadline to negotiate “satisfactory alternative means” to address what the administration calls the threat to United States national security resulting from its current levels of steel and aluminum imports. The announcement also left the door open for other allies that did not win exemptions, most notably Japan, to negotiate with the administration over tariffs.“Any country not listed in this proclamation with which we have a security relationship remains welcome to discuss with the United States alternative ways to address the threatened impairment of the national security caused by imports of steel articles from that country,” Trump wrote. Perspective on exemptions to U.S. metals tariffs: More than half of the metal the United States imports will now be free from the announced U.S. tariffs.