The Biden administration announced that the United States and Mexico are working together to prevent China from flooding the steel and aluminum markets.
According to a White House fact sheet:
American workers and businesses—including those in the steel and aluminum industries—can outcompete anyone, so long as they have fair competition. But the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) non-market policies and practices are anything but fair, and have led to the crisis of global non-market excess capacity that poses an existential threat to our market-oriented steel and aluminum industries. Through its effects on imports, global non-market excess capacity threatens U.S. national security, including by eroding U.S. steel and aluminum manufacturing capacity.
The actions announced by the United States and Mexico today will help address global non- market excess capacity by preventing China and other countries from evading tariffs on steel and aluminum that is imported from Mexico into the United States. These actions will also incentivize the production of steel and aluminum—critical inputs for downstream manufacturing industries—in North America and further enhance the integration of North American industrial supply chains.
Today the United States and Mexico announce important joint actions to prevent tariff evasion on steel and aluminum, and strengthen North American steel and aluminum supply chains.
• The United States will implement melt and pour and smelt and cast requirements, respectively, for steel and aluminum imports from Mexico.
• Under these requirements, in order to enter the United States free of Section 232 tariffs, steel imports from Mexico must be melted and poured in Mexico, the United States, or Canada, while aluminum imports from Mexico must not contain primary aluminum smelt or cast in Belarus, China, Iran or Russia.
• These U.S. actions add to Mexico’s recent tariff increases on steel and aluminum from non-FTA countries.
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, “Today’s announcement is good news for the United States’ and Mexico’s steel and aluminum industries, the communities they support, and most importantly, our steel and aluminum workers. These joint actions with Mexico will help to ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminum industries and the integrity of North American steel and aluminum market integration. This action fixes a loophole left unaddressed by the previous administration and its go-it-alone trade policies, and shows that when we act together, we strengthen our position to defend American workers and businesses from global non-market excess capacity emanating from the PRC’s state-led approach to the economy and trade. We recognize this important step taken by Mexico to work together on a resilient trade policy that puts workers front and center.”
Trump talks a big game about being tough on China, but it is Joe Biden who has taken the real action to hold China accountable and protect American jobs.
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