Business Groups Tell USTR to Lift Section 232 Tariffs on Canada, Mexico Without Quotas

Tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and the U.S. are "entirely inconsistent with the overall goals" of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a group of more than 35 trade groups told the U.S. trade representative in a letter sent Nov 19., and should be lifted so that the new NAFTA deal can be ratified. The letter, led by the National Foreign Trade Council, said that Congress may have a more difficult time ratifying the trade deal, given how many members have complained that tariffs are not needed on our neighbors. And, while the letter does not request a global lifting of the steel and aluminum tariffs, it says that the quotas and tariffs "have caused significant harm" to American manufacturers, and that the increased costs endanger jobs across many sectors, far more than those in the mills and smelters protected by the tariffs.

"Canada and Mexico have responded to these tariff actions and have imposed billions in tariffs on U.S. exports in response. These retaliatory measures, which many of us predicted, target a broad range of U.S. exports, including agricultural and chemical products," the groups wrote, which is also putting U.S. jobs at risk.

"It is our understanding that the Administration is giving consideration to the idea of removing the steel and aluminum tariffs for Mexico and Canada but replacing them with the type of absolute quota regimes that are currently in place for South Korea, Brazil and Argentina ... . We strongly oppose this plan."