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It is becoming obvious that President Trump will prevail with is additional duties on basic Steel and Aluminum Products.  Certainly, an important aspect of this situation is the additional duty cost to importers, but also importers need to keep in mind the impact that these additional duties will have on the importers ability to maintain their U.S. Customs annual continuous bond.  Surety companies will most like require indemnity agreements and financial statements from steel and aluminum importers.  Importer continuous bond premiums will most likely increase accordingly.

Following is a snapshot of an article published by Crowell Moring in their International Trade Law commentary.  Please read the following information and it’s proposed list of commodities within the scope of the Section 232 Tariff increases:

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The president’s decision last week to impose a 25 percent global tariff on certain steel imports, and a 10 percent global tariff on certain aluminum imports, includes the following products:

Aluminum products within the scope of the global tariffs:

• Primary unwrought aluminum, not alloyed – 7601.10
• Primary unwrought aluminum, alloyed – 7601.20
• Semi-finished aluminum bars, rods, and profiles – 7604
• Aluminum wire – 7605
• Semi-finished aluminum plates, sheets, and strip – 7606
• Foil of all types – 7607
• Tubes and Pipe Extrusions – 7608
• Tube or Pipe Fittings – 7609
• Castings and Forgings – 7616.99.5160 and 7616.99.5170

Steel products within the broad scope of the global tariffs:

• Carbon and alloy flat products – produced by rolling semi-finished steel through varying sets of rolls, including sheets, strips, and plates.
• Carbon and alloy long products – that fall outside the flat products category, including bars, rails, rods, and beams.
• Carbon and alloy pipe and tube products – either seamless or welded pipes and tubes, some of which may include stainless and alloys other than stainless.
• Carbon and alloy semi-finished products – consisting of initial, intermediate solid forms of molten steel, to be re-heated and further forged, rolled, shaped, or otherwise worked into finished steel products, including blooms, billets, slabs, ingots, and steel for castings.
• Stainless steel products – flat-rolled, pipe and tube, and semi-finished forms, containing at minimum 10.5 percent chromium and, by weight, 1.2 percent or less of carbon, offering better corrosion resistance than other steel.

The tariffs are effective on March 23.

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