In Proclamation 10064 of August 28, 2020 – Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States (published in the Federal Register on September 2, 2020), President Trump reduced the quantitative limitation for steel imports from Brazil for the remainder of 2020.
The Secretary of Commerce reported that the United States steel market has contracted in 2020. After increasing in 2018 and 2019, steel shipments by domestic producers through June of this year are approximately 15 percent lower than shipments for the same time period in 2019, with shipments in April and May of this year more than 30 percent lower than the shipments in the same months in 2019. The Secretary has further advised me that domestic producers’ adjusted year-to-date capacity utilization rate through August 15, 2020, is below 70 percent and that the current rate has been near or below 60 percent since the second week of April. Brazil is also the second largest source of steel imports to the United States and the largest source of imports of semi-finished steel products. Moreover, imports from most countries have declined this year in a manner commensurate with this contraction, whereas imports from Brazil have decreased only slightly.
Because of these factors, the United States and Brazil held consultations and agreed to lower quantitative limitations through 2020. However, because of existing contracts calling for 4th quarter deliveries, the President directed the Secretary to provide relief from the quantitative limitation set forth in the proclamation in certain limited circumstances specified below:
- the party requesting relief entered into a contract or other written agreement for the production and shipment of such steel article before August 28, 2020;
- such agreement specifies the quantity of such steel article that is to be produced and shipped to the United States prior to December 31, 2020;
- such steel article is to be used in production activities in the United States and such steel article cannot be procured from another supplier to meet the delivery schedule and specifications contained in such agreement; and
- lack of relief from the quantitative limitation on such steel article would significantly disrupt the production activity in the United States for which the steel article specified in such agreement is intended. The volume of imports for which the Secretary grants relief under this clause shall not exceed 60,000,000 kilograms in the aggregate.
In order to use this provision, the party requesting relief, must file a sworn statement signed by the chief executive officer and the chief legal officer of the party attesting that
- the steel article for which relief is sought and the associated contract or other written agreement meet the criteria for relief set forth in the proclamation;
- the party requesting relief will accurately report to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in the manner that CBP prescribes, the quantity of steel articles entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, pursuant to any grant of relief; and
- the quantity of steel articles entered pursuant to a grant of relief will not exceed the quantity for which the Secretary has granted relief.
The Secretary shall notify CBP of any grant of relief made pursuant to this proclamation. The Secretary shall revoke any grant of relief under clause 2 of this proclamation if the Secretary determines at any time after such grant that the criteria for relief have not been met and may, if the Secretary deems it appropriate, notify the Attorney General of the facts that led to such revocation.
CBP is required to monitor the quantities imported and apply them to the new quota.
