U.S. Removal of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum from Canada and Mexico to Propel USMCA Ratification

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The United States announced its decision to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. This is in exchange to fresh round of measures announced by the governments to curb entry of Chinese steel from those countries into the U.S. The deal avoids quotas on steel from Canada and Mexico. The announcement is considered to speed up the congressional approval of the proposed U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade amongst the three countries.

The leading aluminum associations in North America have welcomed the U.S. decision. A joint statement released by The Aluminum Association, IMEDAL and The Aluminum Association of Canada noted that the quota-free removal of tariffs is a major victory for North American Aluminum industry.

According to them the removal of tariffs will support continued growth and investment throughout the entire North American region. The implementation of the decision will ensure fair, robust and rules-based trade of aluminum and aluminum products amongst the three countries. The associations reiterated their commitment to jointly fight the menace of unfairly subsidized overcapacity in China. Further, they decided to work together to help implement USMCA at the earliest.

The U.S. had imposed 25% and 10% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum on Canada and Mexico almost a year before, citing national security reasons.