American steelmakers are asking Biden to keep import duties on steel

U.S. steel officials have called on President Joe Biden to keep import duties on steel and aluminum introduced almost three years ago. According to steelmakers, their abolition would undermine the viability of the sector. On Monday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the European Union signed a "six-month ceasefire" over tariffs on steel and aluminum. Tai and European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, who is in charge of trade, have agreed to start discussions on global overcapacity in steel and aluminum production, which is mainly due to China. At the same time, Brussels has decided to suspend the proposed increase in retaliatory tariffs, which would double as much as 50 percent of tariffs on American whiskey, motorcycles and motorboats from June 1. They would like to find a solution by the end of the year, but EU representatives would like to see tariffs on European steel and aluminum removed even earlier. However, in a letter to Biden published by Reuters, representatives of the steel industry wrote that tariffs imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump were successful and that US steel companies were able to make investments worth $ 15.7 billion (12.85 billion euros). "The abolition of these tariffs will jeopardize the viability of our industry," the head of the American Steel and Iron Institute, the head of the American Steel Producers' Association, union representatives and other groups said in a letter to Biden. They pointed out that the world's steel overcapacity had increased during the pandemic, and previous economic crises had led to a devastating increase in steel imports from other countries to the US market. They added that tariffs provide the stability needed to invest in future steel production in the United States.