Perdue Hopeful Steel Tariffs Will Disappear Soon

The signing of the USMCA is what Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue calls a "field goal" for American farmers, but adds the Ag sector expected tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum to be dropped with the approval of USMCA.

But, that didn't happen.

"We will consider it a touchdown when we are able to remove the 232 tariffs," Perdue said.

The Ag Secretary he's been advocating the removal of those tariffs to the Administration.  At this point, those tariffs remain; perhaps to be used as leverage, making sure the USMCA is ratified by the Legislatures of the three countries.  The Administration may have the position that the tariffs will be removed when the agreement is ratified.  However, Canadian and Mexican lawmakers could use the tariffs as leverage as well, saying they wont sign USMCA until the fees disappear.

In either case, Perdue noted, "Everyone knows that the 232 tariffs are an impediment to ratification of the other two countries. Now, whether they are bluffing or not, that's a part of the negotiations, probably outside the USDA."

Perdue added that if the steel and aluminum tariffs go away, they'd likely be replaced by import quotas.

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