The agreement was reached on the occasion of a meeting of the United States and European Union allies in Rome, and will retain some trade protection measures to pay tribute to the metalworking unions that support President Biden.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced on Saturday that it has reached an agreement to reduce tariffs on European steel and aluminum. Officials said the agreement will reduce the cost of goods such as cars and washing machines, reduce carbon emissions, and help Promote the operation of the supply chain. again.
The agreement was reached on the occasion of the meeting between President Biden and other world leaders at the G20 summit in Rome. It aims to ease the transatlantic trade tensions, which was established by former President Donald Trump ( Donald J. Trump) led to deterioration, the Trump administration initially imposed tariffs. Mr. Biden has made it clear that he wants to repair relations with the European Union, but the agreement also appears to be carefully designed to avoid alienating the US unions and manufacturers that support Mr. Biden.
It has left some protective measures for the American steel and aluminum industries, and has converted the current 25% tariffs on European steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum into so-called tariff quotas. This arrangement can meet higher levels of import tariffs. High tariffs.
The agreement will end the EU’s retaliatory tariffs on American products including orange juice, bourbon and motorcycles. It will also avoid imposing additional tariffs on U.S. products scheduled to take effect on December 1.
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (Gina Raimondo) said: “We fully expect that as we increase tariffs by 25% and increase the volume, this agreement will reduce the burden on the supply chain and reduce cost increases.”
In a briefing with reporters, Ms. Raimundo stated that the transaction enables the United States and the European Union to establish a framework to consider carbon intensity when producing steel and aluminum, which can enable them to make products that are cleaner than the European Union. Made in China.
“China’s lack of environmental standards is part of the reason for cost reduction, but it is also a major factor in climate change,” Ms. Raimundo said.
After the Trump administration determined that foreign metals constitute a national security threat, it imposed tariffs on dozens of countries, including EU countries.
Mr. Biden vowed to work more closely with Europe. He described Europe as a partner in tackling climate change and competing with authoritarian economies such as China. But he has been under pressure from American metal manufacturers and unions to ask him not to completely remove trade barriers, which helps protect domestic industries from the surplus of cheap foreign metals.
The transaction marks the last step of the Biden administration to lift Trump’s transatlantic trade war. In June, US and European officials announced the end of a 17-year dispute over subsidies between Airbus and Boeing. In late September, the United States and Europe announced the establishment of a new trade and technology partnership and reached an agreement on the global minimum taxation at the beginning of this month.
According to people familiar with the matter, under the new terms, the EU will be allowed to export 3.3 million tons of steel to the United States duty-free each year, and any amount exceeding this amount will be subject to a 25% tariff. Products that are exempted from tariffs this year will also be temporarily exempted.
The agreement will also restrict products that are completed in Europe but use steel from China, Russia, South Korea and other countries. To be eligible for duty-free treatment, steel products must be manufactured entirely in the European Union.
Jack Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, said the agreement eliminated “one of the biggest bilateral stimulus in US-EU relations.”
The metal unions in the United States praised the agreement, saying that the agreement will limit European exports to historically low levels. The United States imported 4.8 million tons of European steel in 2018, which dropped to 3.9 million tons in 2019 and 2.5 million tons in 2020.
In a statement, Thomas M. Conway, President of United Steelworkers International, stated that the arrangement will “ensure that domestic industries in the United States remain competitive and can meet our safety and infrastructure needs.”
Mark Duffy, chief executive of the American Primary Aluminum Association, stated that the transaction will “maintain the effectiveness of Mr. Trump’s tariffs” and “at the same time allow us to support continued investment in the US primary aluminum industry and create more More jobs in Alcoa.” ”
He said the arrangement would support the American aluminum industry by restricting duty-free imports to historically low levels.
Other countries still need to pay U.S. tariffs or quotas, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea. The American Chamber of Commerce, which opposes metal tariffs, said the deal is not enough.
Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the agreement will “provide some relief for US manufacturers suffering from soaring steel prices and shortages, but further action is needed.”
“The United States should abandon the baseless allegations that metals imported from Britain, Japan, South Korea and other close allies pose a threat to our national security-and reduce tariffs and quotas at the same time,” he said.