U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered that steel products imported from Mexico must be melted and cast in Mexico, Canada or the United States to qualify for a Section 232 exemption. This effectively imposes a 25% tariff on any steel shipped through Mexico that is produced in China or other sources outside North America.
“In my opinion, these measures will provide an effective, long-term alternative means of addressing any contribution of Mexican imports of steel products to the threat of undermining national security by limiting imports of steel products into the United States from Mexico, limit transhipment and prevent excess steel capacity and production," Biden said in a statement.
In a presidential proclamation on Wednesday, Biden said the level of utilization of domestic steel production in the United States remains below the recommended threshold of 80% due to the impact of imports. The Administration is monitoring unfairly traded foreign inputs and circumvention of existing tariff orders.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has determined that "steel products are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances that they threaten the national security of the United States." the proclamation says.
Specifically, “imports of steel products from Mexico have increased significantly compared to levels at the time of Proclamation 9894,” issued by then-President Donald Trump in 2019.
In The proclamation clarifies that Biden's new tariff order is effective immediately.
The President's proclamation states that importers will be required to inform U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the origin of smelted and poured steel and its derivatives. This rule will be implemented “as soon as possible.”
