SECTION 232

On 31 October 2021, the European Commission announced the suspension of trade restrictive measures relating to steel and aluminium imposed on exports from the US. This is in response to the US suspending the application of their own measures to EU exports of the same kind. In addition, the EU and the US have together pledged to conclude a Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium, which will be open for participation to “like-minded economies”. More

The Biden administration has announced a number of actions aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience and revitalising domestic competitiveness. These actions stem from recently completed reviews of the supply chains of four sectors (drugs, critical minerals, semiconductors and batteries) and on-going reviews of supply chains for defence, public health and biological preparedness, information and communications technology, energy, transportation. More

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told the Senate Finance Committee on 12 May that the law used to impose national security-based tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium products needs to be modernised. A Washington think tank called for reform of the law the same day. More

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on 4 February that the Trump administration did not violate the law when it imposed additional tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to protect what it called the American national security interest. More