US Drops Tariffs on European Steel, Aluminum

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced October 31 that it would drop tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the E.U. and replace them with a quota system to allow for some duty-free tax imports. In exchange, the E.U. dropped its own retaliatory tariffs on imported U.S. goods like bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The deal also includes a framework for the U.S. and E.U. to cooperate on environmental standards and global steel overproduction in the future. Instead of a static import on all tariffs, the new tariff-rate quota system will allow for duty-free imports above a certain tonnage per year, after which new tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% aluminum will kick in. Although officials did not disclose how much steel would be let in before tariffs are applied, a source cited by Reuters put the number at 3.3 million tons.