Trump to Reimpose Aluminum Tariffs on Canada
August 06 2020 - 4:22PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Zumbrun and Alex Leary
Just a little over a month after implementing the new
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement designed to lower trade barriers
across North America, the Trump administration has decided to
reimpose tariffs on Canadian aluminum.
"Earlier today I signed a proclamation that defends American
industry by reimposing aluminum tariffs on Canada," President Trump
said during a speech at a Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio. "Canada
was taking advantage of us, as usual," he said. "The aluminum
business was being decimated by Canada, very unfair to our jobs and
our great aluminum workers."
Major business groups criticized the president's decision.
"These tariffs will raise costs for American manufacturers, are
opposed by most U.S. aluminum producers, and will draw retaliation
against U.S. exports -- just as they did before," said Myron
Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international
affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We urge the
administration to reconsider this move."
Jim McGreevy, the president of the Beer Institute, which
represents American beermakers, said the tariffs were a
mistake:
"The United States imports more primary aluminum from Canada
than from any other country, making Canada a key player in many
American manufacturing processes, including the beer supply chain,"
Mr. McGreevy said, adding that the beverage industry alone had paid
$582 million in tariffs since they first took effect in 2018. "We
strongly oppose the decision to re-implement aluminum tariffs on
one of our nation's most important allies."
The Trump administration first imposed tariffs on steel and
aluminum in March of 2018, arguing that imports of steel and
aluminum threatened U.S. national security. The tariffs ultimately
went into effect for steel and aluminum imports from nearly every
country in the world.
The tariffs emerged as a significant source of tension between
the U.S. and Canada as they worked to renegotiate the 25-year-old
North American Free Trade Agreement. The tariffs had supporters in
the steel industry, but were opposed by most of the aluminum
industry, and by companies that use metals.
The Canadian government argued that due to its longstanding
alliance with the U.S., imports of Canadian metals weren't a threat
to U.S. national security.
In May of 2019, the U.S. agreed to drop the tariffs after
Republican lawmakers told the White House that the new trade
agreement would die in Congress if they weren't removed.
Thursday's announcement only pertained to the 10% tariff on
aluminum from Canada, not the 25% tariff on steel. Mr. Trump's top
trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer had told Congress in June that
he was concerned by an increase of aluminum imports from Canada.
The Aluminum Association sent a letter to Mr. Lighthizer, signed by
15 CEOs and senior executives across the U.S. aluminum industry,
urging the administration not to reimpose tariffs.
"After all of the hard work that has gone into making the USMCA
a reality, it would be a shame to move backward by reapplying
tariffs or quotas on aluminum," Tom Dobbins, the Aluminum
Association's president, said at the time.
In 2019, the U.S. imported about $5.8 billion of bauxite and
aluminum from Canada, down from as much as $7 billion in 2017. It
wasn't immediately clear from the president's announcement if all
Canadian aluminum would face tariffs, or just certain categories of
aluminum. The U.S.Trade Representative's office didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 06, 2020 17:07 ET (21:07 GMT)
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