WCA September 2019

From the Americas

Canada and Mexico, who were exempted in May, lifted their retaliatory tariffs on the United States in response. The institute brought its lawsuit in June 2018, arguing that Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which allows presidents to impose tariffs based on national security concerns, is unconstitutional because it delegates too much discretion to the president at the expense of Congress. When the lower court rejected the challenge, the steel group chose to appeal directly to the Supreme Court instead of taking the case first to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Richard Chriss, a spokesman for the steel group, said the institute will now revert to filing an appeal in the usual fashion with the Federal Circuit. “We continue to believe that we have a strong legal case that Section 232 is unconstitutional. Once the Federal Circuit has spoken, we expect that the losing party will ask the Supreme Court to review that decision,” Mr Chriss said. Steel trader Kurt Orban Partners and oil pipe supplier Sim-Tex LP have also joined the lawsuit. Gill Watson Features Editor

Steel

Steel raises its own challenge A Reuters article, “Challenge to Trump steel tariffs nixed by US Supreme Court”, detailed the result of a request from the American Institute for International Steel. Lawrence Hurley wrote: The US Supreme Court on [17 th June] turned away a challenge to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported steel brought by an industry group that argued that a key part of the law under which he imposed the duties violates the US Constitution. The justices declined to hear the American Institute for International Steel’s appeal of a March ruling by the US Court of International Trade that rejected the group’s lawsuit. The institute is a pro-free trade group that represents steel importers and users of imported steel. In March 2018 Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and 10 per cent tariffs on imported aluminium, on national security grounds, with the bulk of tariffs aimed at China. Exemptions have been granted to Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea in exchange for quotas.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2019