China’s 25% Import Tariff on U.S. Aluminum Scrap Goes Into Immediate Effect

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): China has implemented 25% tariffs on recovered aluminum shipments from the US by providing less than 24 hours of warning period. According to the notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China, dated Monday, April 2, 2018, the imposition of the tariff would be with immediate effect. The Ministry noted that the decision to impose high tariff received widespread support from within the country during the short comment period from March 24^th to March 31^st this year.

Earlier on March 23, 2018, the Ministry of Commerce had issued a list of suspension and concession products for steel and aluminum imports from the US. The Ministry had proposed to impose tariffs on seven categories of products, targeting around $3 billion worth of US exports. The list contained 128 items in total, out of which, 120 items were imposed a tariff of 15% and the remaining 8 items were charged a higher tariff of 25%. Incidentally, the list of items with 25% tariff included aluminum waste and scrap.

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The Chinese government stated that the tariffs were a necessary countermeasure to the Section 232 tariffs proposed by the Trump administration. China blamed the US for abusing the WTO’s ‘security exceptions’ clause and violating the principle of non-discrimination. The imposition of tariffs was necessary to balance the loss of profits caused by the US trade restrictions, the Ministry of Commerce announcement said. On the other hand, Peter Navarro, Director of the White House National Trade Council defended the Section 232 tariffs imposed by the US, stating that they are necessary for national security reasons to protect the domestic steel and aluminum industries.

As per estimates, China is the single largest export market of US aluminum scrap exports. China had accounted for 54% of all US aluminum scrap exports in 2017. The country had imported nearly 820,000 metric tons of scrap aluminum during the previous year.