Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagita met with US Secretary of Commerce Lemond, who is visiting Japan, on the 15th.

The former Trump administration in the United States has agreed to start discussions on a solution to additional tariffs on steel products and other products.

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagita and US Secretary of Commerce Lemond met at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Among these were the agenda items such as how to cooperate to strengthen the supply chain of automobile parts and semiconductors = the supply chain, and additional tariffs on steel and aluminum that were invoked by the previous Trump administration.



According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the two countries have agreed to start discussions on the additional tariffs on Japan's steel and aluminum to resolve the issue.



The United States will impose additional tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum since March 2018, saying that cheap imports of steel and aluminum due to China's overproduction pose a security threat. We have taken import restrictions, and products from Japan are also covered.



The EU-European Union and others have taken retaliatory tariffs on the United States, which has led to trade conflicts, but the Biden administration last month agreed to exempt some of the additional tariffs on the EU.



Japan has not taken retaliatory tariffs on the United States and has urged the United States to eliminate additional tariffs.

Japanese steel decreased by nearly 60% before import restrictions

Unlike the EU, Japan did not take retaliatory tariffs on the United States.



While there are signs that the trade conflict between the US and the EU will be resolved, Japan is still subject to additional tariffs.



This import restriction applies to most Japanese steel and aluminum products imported into the United States.



Until the measures were put into effect, tariffs on steel and aluminum products from Japan were kept low, but additional tariffs also affected trade.



According to US import statistics, the amount of Japanese steel products imported into the US last year was 720,000 tons.



Compared to 1.73 million tons in 2017 before the measures were implemented, it decreased by nearly 60%.



It is believed that not only the impact of the measures but also the decline in demand for steel products due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection was a factor.



The Government of Japan has been working to resolve the issue, such as by requesting that Japan be excluded from the target at bilateral ministerial talks with the United States, but no concrete progress has been made so far.

Tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into rice

An unusual import restriction that imposes high tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the United States came into effect in March 2018 during the Trump administration.



This measure is based on Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of the United States, and is based on the statement that the president can take measures such as import adjustment if imported products pose a threat to US national security. I am doing it.



The Trump administration has said that low-priced imports of steel and aluminum due to China's overproduction have hit the American steel industry and pose a security threat to steel products from around the world, including Japan. We have taken import restrictions, adding a high tariff of 25% and 10% on aluminum products.



Last year, screws and cables produced from steel and aluminum were also added.



Since then, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and Australia have been excluded from the measures by bilateral agreement, and Canada and Mexico have also been excluded.



On the other hand, the EU-European Union retaliates for imports from the United States totaling 2.8 billion euros, or about 360 billion yen in Japanese yen, for some products in addition to the same steel products that the United States added tariffs on. It imposed tariffs and developed into a trade conflict between the United States and the EU.



After that, talks between the United States and the EU proceeded, and the Biden administration announced last month that it had agreed to ease additional tariff measures on the EU.



According to this, the US side will maintain additional tariffs on steel and aluminum, but will exempt tariffs from January next year up to a certain quantity, 3.3 million tons per year.



On the other hand, the EU side has also taken a certain step toward resolving trade conflicts by eliminating the retaliatory tariffs imposed on some products.