US strengthens aluminum and steel supply chain with Mexico to curb China

The United States and Mexico agreed on Wednesday to a series of measures to protect the steel and aluminum supply chain in North America by raising tariffs to prevent countries such as China from importing these materials into the United States.

Both countries agreed to new requirements to ensure and protect “that steel arriving from Mexico obtains duty-free benefits only if it is melted and poured in Mexico, the United States or Canada.”

If the products do not originate in Mexico, they will face tariffs of 25%, the White House Press Office reported.

Similarly, aluminum imports from Mexico that contain “primary aluminum smelted or cast in China, Belarus, Iran or Russia” will face a 10% tariff.

These joint actions “will help “ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminum industries and the integrity of the integration of the steel and aluminum market in North America,” he said. in a statement by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

With this agreement, the United States is trying to stop the entry of steel and aluminum from China through Mexico, an action that circumvents the tariffs that Washington applies to these materials.

“China’s non-market policies and practices are anything but fair and have led to the global crisis of non-market excess capacity that poses an existential threat to our industries “market-oriented steel and aluminum companies,” Tai said.

The decision to work with the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to prevent China from introducing steel and aluminum into the United States through Mexico, thus circumventing the tariffs that Washington imposes on these materials, had been announced by US President Joe Biden in mid-April.