U.S. and Japan Reach an Agreement to Remove Trump-Era Steel Tariffs

美国.S. and Japan reached a truce that will allow most 钢 shipments from the Asian nation to enter 关税-free for the first time since 2018 and sees the countries working 在一起 to combat Chinese 贸易 practices that harm the industry.

Washington will suspend the 25% levy on incoming 钢 imports from Japan up to 1.25 million metric tons a year, officials from the Commerce Department 和你.S. 美国贸易代表办公室周一对记者说. Anything beyond that will still be subject to additional charges. The agreement will take effect April 1, 官员们说.

美国.S. 导入约1个.7 million metric tons of 钢 from Japan in 2017, the most recent year not affected by the 关税s. 进口降至1%.1 million tons by 2019, according to Commerce Department data.

解决方案，彭博新闻社 早些时候报道, 反映协议 那就是美国.S. reached with the European Union in October that ended punitive measures on as much as $10 billion of each other’s goods.

“Today’s announcement builds on the deal we struck with the EU and will further help us rebuild relationships with our allies around the world as we work to fight against China’s unfair 贸易 practices,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Japan’s Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that the move was a step forward, 但他补充说:“我们将继续向美国施压.S. 很难完全解决.”

而美国.S. and EU are seeking to leverage their deal into a broader global arrangement to address non-市场 excess capacity and penalize countries that don’t meet low-carbon targets for 钢 and aluminum, 日本目前没有加入这一进程, 官员们说.

美国.S. and Japan instead will confer on potential domestic steps that the Asian nation can take, including methodologies for calculating 钢 and aluminum carbon-intensity, 官员们说. 日本希望把谈判的重点放在钢铁上, and thus the nation’s aluminum exports aren’t covered by Monday’s deal and will still face 10% 关税s, 他们说.

这场金属争端始于2018年, when Trump imposed duties on 钢 and aluminum from its biggest trading partners, 包括欧盟和日本, 以威胁国家安全为由. While the EU subsequently retaliated, targeting products including Harley-Davidson Inc. 摩托车，李维斯 & Co. jeans and bourbon whiskey, Japan did not, focusing instead on negotiating a 贸易 deal with 美国.S. 包括部分农业和工业产品.

U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said the agreement was spurred on by President Joe Biden’s virtual summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida 上个月, 拜登在会上强调了这个问题的紧迫性. 

“与过去三年相反, 这是积极的一步, 在一起,伊曼纽尔在东京接受电话采访时说. “你.S. is now turning its attention to another ally, Great Britain,” he added. “When we collectively stand up, that is a big, big statement.”

The metals 关税s on Japan remained when the Biden administration took office last year, and 美国.S. made an offer to Japan to resolve the 钢 dispute in December, an official with knowledge of the talks said at the time. But Tokyo was holding out for a better deal and had wanted the 关税s to be abolished completely, 那个人说.

In terms of volume, Japan only accounts for about 4% of all 钢 imported to 美国.S.在美国，稀土约占金属消费总量的1%.S.根据美国商务部的数据.

仍然, it’s another domino falling for allied countries receiving exemptions to send 钢 duty-free to 美国.S. 市场. 这种准入令国内钢铁生产商感到不安, because they argue it creates a slippery slope that opens the door for those countries with exemptions to ramp up their exports.

钢铁企业的担忧

U.S. 钢makers also warn that exempted nations can act as pass-through points for metal coming from bad actors like China. 他们担心欧洲, 哪一个最近获得了豁免, and Japan could unknowingly import metal from restricted countries and then export that to 美国.S.，充斥市场.

所有 钢 from Japan that will be subject to duty-free entry will need to be melted and poured in the nation, 美国.S. 官员说, a measure meant to block imports from other nations using Japan as merely a point of transit. 

联合钢铁工人, 也就是850,000 employees in industries including metals and mining, said the deal shows Biden “understands that we must move beyond the less-effective, one-size-fits-all approach of the previous administration.” 

It added that the melted-and-poured requirement “will ensure that 钢 imports from Japan are actually produced there, which will help stem circumvention and allow workers in both countries an opportunity to succeed.”

在10月份与欧盟达成协议之后, the Biden administration has turned its attention to negotiating 钢 deals like the one announced on Monday with additional allies. 美国.S. 和你.K. 上个月 开始谈判 to address 关税s on both 钢 and aluminum and the problem of global overcapacity.