Japan, Thailand Benefit Most from Steel Tariff Exclusions

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Steel imports from Japan and Thailand have, by far, benefited the most from exclusions from the Trump administration’s 25 percent tariffs, according to an Oct. 1 analysis by Financial Times.

The publication found that, as of Aug. 20, more than 38,000 exclusion requests had been submitted to the Department of Commerce, with the agency, so far, issuing decisions on about 8,400, 5,300 of which were approvals. Japan and Thailand have both had more than 500 thousand tons of imports excluded. The next highest country is Taiwan, at just under 200,000 tons.

Financial Times quoted a lawyer who represents companies seeking exclusions as criticizing the Commerce Department’s decision-making process as “very murky.”

“I thought Republicans were supporters of the marketplace picking winners and losers, not the government,” Lewis Leibowitz said. “This is the government picking winners and losers, big time.”

Separately, Ford announced that it has been one of the losers when it comes to steel tariffs. More specifically, according to CEO James Hackett, it is losing about $1 billion in profits in 2018 and 2019.

“The irony of which is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyway,” Hackett said. “If it goes on any longer, it will do more damage.”

 Courtesy: AIIS