Five conditions of the U.S., Canada deal to drop the Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum

In a joint statement released by the United States and Canada on Friday, May 17, the two countries outlined five conditions as part of the U.S. agreement to drop the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada. "After extensive discussions on trade in steel and aluminum covered by the action taken pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. §1862), the United States and Canada have reached an understanding," the statement reads. That understanding is as follows:

1. The United States and Canada agree to eliminate, no later than two days from the issuance of this statement.

All tariffs the United States imposed under Section 232 on imports of aluminum and steel products from Canada; and
All tariffs Canada imposed in retaliation for the Section 232 action taken by the United States (identified in Customs Notice 18-08 Surtaxes Imposed on Certain Products Originating in the United States, issued by the Canada Border Services Agency on June 29, 2018 and revised on July 11, 2018).

2. The United States and Canada agree to terminate all pending litigation between them in the World Trade Organization regarding the Section 232 action.

3. The United States and Canada will implement effective measures to:

Prevent the importation of aluminum and steel that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices; and
Prevent the transshipment of aluminum and steel made outside of Canada or the United States to the other country. Canada and the United States will consult together on these measures.

4. The United States and Canada will establish an agreed-upon process for monitoring aluminum and steel trade between them. In monitoring for surges, either country may treat products made with steel that is melted and poured in North America separately from products that are not.

5. In the event that imports of aluminum or steel products surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time, with consideration of market share, the importing country may request consultations with the exporting country.

After such consultations, the importing party may impose duties of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum in respect to the individual product(s) where the surge took place (on the basis of the individual product categories set forth in the attached chart). If the importing party takes such action, the exporting country agrees to retaliate only in the affected sector (i.e., aluminum and aluminum-containing products or steel).