Trump stated that the tariffs, which will apply to the products from trading partners with duty-free exemptions or tariff-rate quota deals, including Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, the EU, Japan and the UK, will be effective as of March 12, 2025. However, a White House official subsequently stated that the tariffs will be effective as of March 4, 2025.

As a result of minor changes made in the decision, wire rod importers will be subject to a tax liability of

• $175/mt during June 15, 2024-January 6, 2025;
• $170/mt during January 7, 2025-January 6, 2026 and
• $165/mt between January 7, 2026 and January 6, 2027.

Also, products originating from 113 countries and customs territories, including Afghanistan, Argentina, the Philippines and Belarus, will be exempt from the safeguard measure and be subjected to quotas. In this context, a quota of 33,898 mt will be applied in the first period of the measure and 67,796 mt in the second and third periods. However, the quota given for each country or customs territory will not exceed 11,299 mt in the first period and 22,599 mt in the second and third periods.

The products subject to the investigation fall under Customs Tariff Statistics Position Numbers 7213.10.00.00.00, 7213.91.10.00.00, 7213.91.20.00.00, 7213.91.41.00.11, 7213.91.41.00.12, 7213.91.41.00.13, 7213.91.41.00.19, 7213.91.49.00.11, 7213.91.49.00.12, 7213.91.49.00.13, 7213.91.49.00.19, 7213.91.70.10.11, 7213.91.70.10.12, 7213.91.70.10.13, 7213.91.70.10.19, 7213.91.70.90.00, 7213.91.90.00.00, 7213.99.10.00.11, 7213.99.10.00.13, 7213.99.90.10.11, 7213.99.90.10.13, 7213.99.90.10.19, 7213.99.90.90.00, 7227.10.00.00.00, 7227.20.00.00.00, 7227.90.10.00.00, 7227.90.50.00.00, and 7227.90.95.00.00.

The Trump administration imposed a blanket 25% tariff on all steel imports, and of 10% on all aluminum imports, in March 2018 under Section 232 legislation,. Later in June 2018, the restrictions on Brazil and Argentinian steel and aluminum were converted to a quota system. These imports from both countries were exempted from the quota and tariffs system in May 2019.

Argentina imposed a 12 percent tariff over “all products included in the Mercosur HTS codes.” Argentina said the tariff can not exceed ARS 4 for each USD 1 exported for primary products, and ARS 3 for each USD 1 exported for finished products.

The tariffs are valid until December 2020, the Argentinian government said.

Canada, Mexico, and the European Union have already vowed to retaliate against products they import from the US.

EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström commented on the decision as well, stating, “Today is a bad day for world trade. We did everything to avoid this outcome. Over the last couple of months I have spoken at numerous occasions with the US Secretary of Commerce. I have argued for the EU and the US to engage in a positive transatlantic trade agenda, and for the EU to be fully, permanently and unconditionally exempted from these tariffs. This is also what EU leaders have asked for. Throughout these talks, the US has sought to use the threat of trade restrictions as leverage to obtain concessions from the EU. This is not the way we do business, and certainly not between longstanding partners, friends and allies. Now that we have clarity, the EU’s response will be proportionate and in accordance with WTO rules. We will now trigger a dispute settlement case at the WTO, since these US measures clearly go against agreed international rules. We will also impose rebalancing measures and take any necessary steps to protect the EU market from trade diversion caused by these US restrictions.”

Meanwhile, NAFTA partners were also reportedly surprised by the announcement given the ongoing status of renegotiating the trade agreement. Mexico responded to the news by announcing retaliatory tariffs on products including pork belly, apples, grapes, blueberries and flat steel.

Meanwhile, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and Australia have been given import quotas in the Section 232 investigation.

The tariffs are effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after March 23, 2018. Countries with temporary exclusions to the tariffs include Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil and  member countries of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).

Customs and Border Protection noted that exclusions are based on the country of origin, not the country of export. The merchandise covered by the additional duties may also be subject to pre-existing antidumping and countervailing duties.

According to media reports, Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee that the Trump administration would base exemptions on “a certain set of criteria” while continuing to negotiate.

Canada and Mexico were also excluded from tariffs on a temporary basis while Lighthizer continues to renegotiate NAFTA.