On August 6, 2020, the White House issued a proclamation stating that the U.S. would re-impose 10% tariffs on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum under subheading 7601.10 from Canada starting August 16, 2020. The subject products make up the majority of U.S. aluminum imports from Canada.
President Donald Trump explained that the re-imposition of tariffs was necessary in his view, stating that:
“Canada is the largest source of United States imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum, accounting for nearly two-thirds of total imports of these articles from all countries in 2019 and approximately 75 percent of total imports in the first five months of 2020. The surges in imports of these articles from Canada coincides with a decrease in imports of these articles from other countries and threatens to harm domestic aluminum production and capacity utilization.”
The proclamation went on to state that “the United States will monitor for import surges of articles that continue to be exempt from the tariff proclaimed in Proclamation 9704, to ensure that exports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum to the United States are not simply reoriented into increased exports of alloyed, further processed, or wrought aluminum articles,” the proclamation said, meaning that tariffs on additional aluminum articles could follow in the future. Additionally, under the previous agreement between the two countries, Canada is allowed to place retaliatory tariffs on U.S. aluminum products.
The White House has not stated whether or not it will reinstate the 25% tariffs on imports of steel.
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Nithya Nagarajan is a Washington-based partner with the law firm Husch Blackwell LLP. She practices in the International Trade & Supply Chain group of the firm’s Technology, Manufacturing & Transportation industry team.
Turner Kim is an Assistant Trade Analyst in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Washington D.C. office.
Camron Greer is an Assistant Trade Analyst in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Washington D.C. office.