A US manufacturing group asked President Joe Biden to end tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, setting the stage for a debate on protective trade measures.
Biden said last week he would keep US tariffs on aluminium imports from the United Arab Emirates, a major supplier, reversing a last-minute directive by Trump.
But the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users said the tariffs hurt family-owned businesses and fractured relationships with trading partners. A letter from the group asked Biden to end former President Donald Trump’s tariffs and to ask countries to address the issue of excess steel and aluminium capacity in China.
“By taking action to terminate the Trump tariffs, your administration can prevent US manufacturers from shutting down production lines, laying off workers, and potentially even closing their doors,” Paul Nathanson, the executive director of the group, said in the letter dated Wednesday.
“Thousands of manufacturers cannot procure the necessary raw materials in the US in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities ––and of a satisfactory quality –– leading American companies to rely on imports,” he said.
The United Steelworkers, most US steel producers and Century Aluminium Co. have asked Biden to maintain tariffs.
The coalition said it represents more than 30,000 companies and more than one million workers.
Aluminium ranks as the UAE’s biggest exported good by value to the US. The Arab nation sold $1.3 billion worth of the metal to American buyers in 2019, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.
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