US and EU extend mutual tariff suspension

The European Union and the US have both extended their suspension of tariffs on steel and aluminium products to allow further time to negotiate a global arrangement on such trade.

In December, the EU announced a continued suspension on tariffs on US goods for a 15-month period, followed a week later by a presidential proclamation from Joe Biden to extend the EU’s access tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) until the end of 2025.

The TRQ volume specified in a 2021 agreement between the US and the EU, totalling 3.3 million tonnes, was consistent with the objective of reaching and maintaining a sufficient capacity utilisation rate in the US domestic steel industry, Biden said.

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the extension, combined with the EU’s continued suspension on tariffs on US goods, would give both sides additional time to negotiate a global arrangement.

Stability

‘Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States is committed to defending workers, communities, and domestic industries from global non-market overcapacity and excessive carbon emissions,’ she said. ‘By extending the EU’s steel and aluminium TRQs for an additional two years, we can continue negotiations on a forward-looking, high-standard arrangement, while providing predictability and stability to steel and aluminium workers and their families on both sides of the Atlantic.’

She added that maintaining viable steel and aluminium production at home was vital to US national security and ‘our efforts with trading partners, including the EU, will continue to be guided by this tenet’.