Two massive steel manufacturers with ties to the Trump administration have successfully blocked more than 1,600 tariff exemption applications filed in recent months by American firms seeking to purchase steel from overseas, the New York Times reported Monday.
The Trump administration has thus far granted every single tariff exemption objection filed by the two companies, Nucor and United States Steel.
Both firms have ties to the Trump administration: Nucor funded a pro-protectionist trade documentary produced by White House trade advisor Peter Navarro and United States Steel formerly employed a number of top administration officials.
The companies typically object to tariff exemptions for American firms when they produce the specific part the firm is seeking to buy from overseas, or in cases when hey believe the foreign purchase jeopardizes national security.
But the firms have also successfully objected in instances in which they don’t already produce the part but claim they could begin to do so “immediately,” which in effect translated to eight weeks in the case of one objection filed by Nucor.
The Trump administration’s tariffs of ten and 25 percent on steel and aluminum respectively have drawn sharp criticism from free trade Republicans and the business community at large. In response, the administration established an “exclusion” process wherein American companies can apply for an exemption if they are seeking to purchase a specific part not already made in the U.S. or they believe there is no legitimate national security threat posed by their foreign purchase.
However, critics allege the “exclusion” process was designed to privilege the objections of American steel manufacturers over the interests of other U.S. firms.
“This process was not designed to be successfully navigated” by American firms seeking tariff exclusions, Richard Chriss, the president of the American Institute for International Steel, told the Times.
Conversely, administration officials point out that only roughly ten percent of exclusion applications are met with objections by American steel companies.
“If a product is available in enough quantity and quality to meet demand, the objection is generally sustained,” commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said in an email to the Times. “Each situation is treated individually. If no objection has been filed, and there is no specific national security issue regarding the import, we generally grant the exclusion request.”