The election of Joe Biden as US president has opened the question of what happens to the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, but analysts expect adjustment rather than abolition. The 25% tariff, imposed in March 2018 on national security grounds, has made most imported steel uncompetitive in the US market, and total steel imports fell 17% in 2019 to 25.3 million tonnes. Trade specialists say a Biden administration is more likely to use the tariffs as a bargaining chip with allies, particularly the European Union, than to remove them outright, and the American Iron and Steel Institute has urged that they be kept in place while global overcapacity persists. Biden himself has promised to review the duties while standing firmly behind domestic steelmakers and their unions. Meanwhile, US steel prices were already climbing: domestic hot-rolled coil reached $710 per short ton on 10 November, its highest level since March 2019, as demand recovered and mills ran short of supply.
Source: Argus Media — https://www.stanch.com/msg/msg343.htm
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (freely licensed).