On Wednesday, July 10th, authorities in the United States and
Mexico announced measures aimed at curbing imports of metals from China and
other countries that ship products through Mexico to circumvent tariffs.
The White House said
that under a new policy implemented by President Joe Biden and Mexican
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, steel and aluminum products imported
from Mexico will be subject to 25% U.S. “Section 232” tariffs unless the steel
is documented to have been melted and poured in Mexico, the U.S. or Canada.
“Mexico and the United States are taking key measures today to protect the
North American steel and aluminum markets from unfair trade,” Presidents Biden
and Lopez Obrador said in a joint statement issued
by the White House. “Both countries will implement policies to jointly prevent
tariff evasion on steel and aluminum, and strengthen North American steel and
aluminum supply chains (Mexico, United States, and Canada).”
The new tariffs on
steel are meant to address the evasion of tariffs by China, the largest
producer of steel in the world. The aluminum taxes would also hit production
based in China, Belarus, Iran and Russia.
Scott Paul, president
of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), praised the new tariffs.
Washington D.C.-based AAM is a nonprofit, nonpartisan partnership formed in
2007 to strengthen American manufacturing and create new private-sector jobs
through public policies.
“We know Beijing is using countries like Mexico to dodge U.S. tariffs,
including duties specifically put into place to deter China’s massive
industrial overcapacity,” Paul said in a news release. “China and
other nations must not be allowed to exploit trade with our neighbors in order
to avoid U.S. trade enforcement.”
The U.S. imported
$6.1 billion in steel products in the 12 months ending in February 2023,with
only 3% of those imports coming from China, according to Census Bureau figures
analyzed by the Associated Press.
In 2023, the U.S.
imported almost $3 billion worth of steel, aluminum and other metals from
Mexico through the port of entry in Laredo, Texas.