Recyclers hope US import tariffs won’t include scrap metals

US metal recyclers believe the import of scrap steel and aluminium may not be affected by President Trump’s recent proclamation of tariffs for primary products.

The announcement fully restores tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium from all countries from 4 March. The duty on steel products will remain at 25%, while that for imported aluminium will rise from 10% to 25%.

However, in a briefing for its members, the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) says there are no indications that recycled steel (HTS 7204) or aluminium (HTS 7602) are included in the tariffs.

‘We are awaiting confirmation of this from the not-yet-released annexes, but we expect recycled material inputs to be excluded, because these materials were not in the original scope of the investigation and subsequent tariffs that began in 2018.’

Wider tariffs

ReMA points out that the proclamations are continuations of actions from Trump’s first term as president which did not mention modifications to material inputs, such as recycled steel or aluminium. Even so, his latest tariffs cover imports from all countries, cancelling earlier agreements that suspended or modified the tariffs.

Several countries, including Canada, Mexico, EU Member States, Japan, the UK, Brazil, South Korea, Ukraine, Argentina and Australia were exempted but their agreements will go.

ReMA points out the slight delay in implementation gives countries an opportunity to try to negotiate a new agreement for exemption from the tariffs. The 4 March timing aligns with the expiration of a 30-day pause on separate 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.

The President could also impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners. ‘It is our understanding that they are intended to impose matching duties imposed by other countries on the same products – but it is unclear at this time if it would be a line-by-line tariff across the entire Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and for each country or more broadly by market segment or finished product category.’

Legal action?

Separately, an expert on the steel market has pointed out that, when Trump did the same thing in the US in 2018, steel prices immediately reached a 10-year high. ‘But those kind of gains were shared over the months and the years after that, it wasn’t a sustained upward trend,’ Carrie Bone, editor, steel, Kallanish Commodities, told the BBC.

‘It’s worth remembering that after Donald Trump did bring that in, there were many legal challenges by other countries that had their own kind of retaliation tariffs. The EU brought in safeguarding quotas; other countries took the US to the World Trade Organization. Even companies and associations in the US, you know, tried to go to court.’