FILE PHOTO: A worker stands near steel coils and steel rods at a steel collection facility in Tokyo, Japan, October 30, 2015. Japanese steelmakers are facing a supply glut, weak orders for drill pipe due to slumping oil prices, and softer-than-expected domestic demand, battering profits and output. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

February 7, 2022

By David Lawder

(Reuters) -The United States and Japan on Monday are set to announce a deal to grant Japanese steelmakers relief from Trump-era U.S. tariffs for a limited amount of steel imports, people familiar with the plans said.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet public, said it will allow about 1.25 million metric tonnes into the United States duty-free, with volumes above that level subject to the 25% “Section 232” national security tariffs.

The sources said the agreement differs significantly from a deal announced last year by the United States and the European Union that removes tariffs from more than 4 million tonnes of steel annually and leaves Japanese aluminum subject to 10% U.S. tariffs.

Unlike the EU deal, past steel product exclusions from tariffs will not be added to Japan’s quota, and Japan will not participate in U.S.-EU talks on a global agreement to discourage trade in steel made with high carbon emissions, the sources added.

Japan’s steel industry is highly dependent on coal-fired blast furnace production, while more than 70% of U.S. steel is made with electric-arc furnaces that emit less carbon.

An announcement is planned for late afternoon Washington time. Bloomberg earlier reported that an announcement was imminent.

Spokespeople for the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office declined to comment on the U.S.-Japan steel talks.

Last week, Japan’s ambassador to Washington, Koji Tomita, said that negotiations between Japan and the United States over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs were robust https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-japan/japans-u-s-ambassador-says-metals-tariff-talks-robust-idUSKBN2K520W and the EU deal would serve as a template for an agreement with Japan.

Japan, Britain, South Korea and other U.S. allies have said they should not be subject to the metals tariffs imposed in 2018 by former president Donald Trump under a Cold War-era national security trade law.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has announced her intention to start talks with Britain https://www.reuters.com/business/us-uk-agree-talks-resolve-steel-aluminum-dispute-2022-01-19 towards resolving the metals tariffs dispute.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Barbara Lewis)


Source: One America News Network

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