On May 17, 2019, the United States, Canada and Mexico concluded an agreement in which the United States agreed to remove the Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from those countries and Canada and Mexico agreed to remove all retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Accordingly, President Donald Trump issued proclamations declaring that the United States “has successfully concluded discussions with Canada and Mexico on satisfactory alternative means to address the threatened impairment of the national security posed by steel articles imports from Canada and Mexico. … These measures are expected to allow imports of steel articles from Canada and Mexico to remain stable at historical levels without meaningful increases, thus permitting the domestic industry’s capacity utilization to continue at approximately the target level recommended in the Secretary’s [Section 232] report. In my judgment, these measures will provide effective, long-term alternative means to address the contribution of these countries’ imports to the threatened impairment of the national security.”
The agreement provides that Canada and Mexico will implement measures to prevent the importation of steel and aluminum into the United States that is unfairly subsidized or sold at dumped prices, and also to prevent the transshipment into the United States of aluminum and steel made outside of Canada, Mexico or the United States. Canada and Mexico agreed to a process for monitoring and a mechanism to prevent surges in imports of steel and aluminum from their countries. If surges in imports of specific steel and aluminum products occur, the United States may re-impose Section 232 tariffs on those products. Any retaliation by Canada and Mexico would then be limited to steel and aluminum products. The countries will also terminate all pending disputes between them before the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the Section 232 tariffs.
The U.S. Trade Representative has released joint statements with Canada and Mexico regarding this resolution.