The White House announced in a press release Wednesday they would be imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports shipped to the U.S. through Mexico.
President Joe Biden accused “foreign producers” of increasing their steel products shipped through Mexico in order “to circumvent the duties on steel articles” imported into the U.S. in the statement. Biden emphasized that those products being shipped to the U.S. that were genuinely “products of Mexico” would be exempted from a 25 percent tariff.
The White House also proclaimed the enactment of a 10 percent tariff on aluminum “imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico.” The Biden administration specifically named Iran, China, Russia and Belarus as countries trying to evade paying import taxes through re-routing their goods to enter the United States through Mexico. (RELATED: Biden To Oppose Foreign Acquisition Of US Steel)
Lael Brainard, the White House National Economic Council’s director, said the imposition of these tariffs on such goods circulating through Mexico was consistent with the United States’ trade agreement with Mexico, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Brainard reportedly cited section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act that permits the United States to impose such measures in the name of national security.
Biden administration to tax foreign-made steel and aluminum imports routed through Mexico https://t.co/DGuXi5PWTH
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 10, 2024
“The president is taking action to close loopholes left by his predecessor that allowed China to circumvent trade rules,” Brainard said, the AP reported. The administration’s tariffs were projected to have only a modest impact, the outlet noted. Officials reportedly stated that the United States imported 105,000 metric tons of aluminum from Mexico in 2023, with only six percent being smelted or cast beyond the country’s borders.
The officials similarly added that the U.S. imported 3.8 million tons of steel in 2023 from Mexico, with 13 percent of this product being poured or melted beyond the country’s borders, the AP reported.
This move comes after reports of Biden plummeting in the polls since he debated Trump.
“Some Democrats might make the case that … ‘look, this is still close.’ … On the flip side, other Democrats … would look at this and say, ‘the bottom line, Joe Biden doesn’t lead in a single one of these polls,’” MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki said Tuesday. “Joe Biden’s lost ground in most of these polls.”
Jon Favreau, a former head speechwriter for President Barack Obama, called Biden’s performance in the debate “a fucking disaster.”
“I think it was like the worst debate I’d ever seen in my entire life,” he added.