1. On January 11, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effect of imports of steel articles on the national security of the United States, and on January 19, 2018, the Secretary transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effect of imports of aluminum articles on the national security of the United States. Both reports were issued pursuant to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862).
2. In Proclamation 9704 of March 8, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States), and Proclamation 9705 of March 8, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States), I concurred in the Secretary’s findings that aluminum articles and steel articles were being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States. I therefore decided to adjust the imports of aluminum articles, as defined in clause 1 of Proclamation 9704, as amended, by imposing a 10 percent ad valorem tariff on such articles imported from most countries, beginning March 23, 2018. I also decided to adjust the imports of steel articles, as defined in clause 1 of Proclamation 9705, as amended, by imposing a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on such articles imported from most countries, beginning March 23, 2018.
3. In Proclamation 9758 of May 31, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States), I decided to further adjust imports of aluminum articles by imposing quotas on such articles from the Argentine Republic (Argentina). In Proclamation 9740 of April 30, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States), I decided to adjust imports of steel articles by imposing quotas on such articles from the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and in Proclamation 9759 of May 31, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States), I decided to adjust imports of steel articles by imposing quotas on such articles from Argentina and the Republic of Brazil (Brazil).
4. In Proclamation 9704 and Proclamation 9705, I directed the Secretary to monitor imports of aluminum articles and steel articles, respectively, and inform me of any circumstances that in the Secretary’s opinion might indicate the need for further action under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
5. The Secretary has informed me that domestic steel producers’ capacity utilization has not stabilized for an extended period of time at or above the 80 percent capacity utilization level identified in his report as necessary to remove the threatened impairment of the national security. Stabilizing at that level is important to provide the industry with a reasonable expectation that market conditions will prevail long enough to justify the investment necessary to ramp up production to a sustainable and profitable level. Capacity utilization in the aluminum industry has improved, but it is still below the target capacity utilization that the Secretary recommended in his report. Although imports of aluminum articles and steel articles have declined since the imposition of the tariffs and quotas, the Secretary has informed me that imports of certain derivatives of aluminum articles and imports of certain derivatives of steel articles have significantly increased since the imposition of the tariffs and quotas. The net effect of the increase of imports of these derivatives has been to erode the customer base for U.S. producers of aluminum and steel and undermine the purpose of the proclamations adjusting imports of aluminum and steel articles to remove the threatened impairment of the national security.
6. The derivative articles the Secretary identified are described in Annex I (aluminum) and Annex II (steel) to this proclamation. For purposes of this proclamation, the Secretary determined that an article is “derivative” of an aluminum article or steel article if all of the following conditions are present: (a) the aluminum article or steel article represents, on average, two-thirds or more of the total cost of materials of the derivative article; (b) import volumes of such derivative article increased year-to-year since June 1, 2018, following the imposition of the tariffs in Proclamation 9704 and Proclamation 9705, as amended by Proclamation 9739 and Proclamation 9740, respectively, in comparison to import volumes of such derivative article during the 2 preceding years; and (c) import volumes of such derivative article following the imposition of the tariffs exceeded the 4 percent average increase in the total volume of goods imported into the United States during the same period since June 1, 2018. The modifications to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States described in Annex I (aluminum) and Annex II (steel) to this proclamation implement the Secretary’s determinations in this regard. More →
