Proclamation 9704 - Imports of Aluminum Into the United States

On September 15, the USTR announced it was suspending the 10% additional duty on Canadian non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum retroactively to September 1, 2020 after consultations with the Canadian government. 

USTR said the United States will resume duty-free treatment of non-allowed, unwrought aluminum retrospective to September 1, 2020. Six weeks after the end of any month during this period, the United States will determine whether actual shipments met expectations. If actual shipments exceeded 105 percent of the expected volume for any month during the four-month period, then the United States will impose the 10 percent tariff retroactively on all shipments made in that month.

If shipments in any month exceed the expected volume, the United States expects that shipments in the next month will decline by a corresponding amount.
In addition to the forgoing, if imports exceed 105 percent of the expected volume in any month the United States may re-impose the 10 percent tariff going forward.
The United States will consult with the Canadian government at the end of the year to review the state of the aluminum trade in light of trade patterns during the four-month period and expected market conditions in 2021.
 

AUGUST 10th, 2020

The Secretary of Commerce investigation in January 2018 as to the effect of imports of aluminum articles determined that aluminum articles were being imported into the US in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the US, leading to the assessment of an additional 10 percent ad valorem tariff on such articles from most countries as set forth in Proclamation 9704 on March 8, 2018.  

After negotiating with Canada, it was determined Canada would be excluded from the 10 percent ad valorem tariff, based on measures with Canada to be followed, allowing imports from Canada to remain stable at historical levels without meaningful increases.  The Secretary has now determined there has been an 87 percent increase in the import of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada during June 2019 through May 2020 which exceed the volume of any full calendar year in the previous decade.  

It has been determined that the measures agreed upon with Canada have not provided an effective alternative means to address the threatened impairment of our national security.  As a result, Proclamation 9704 has been amended to include Canada in the assessment of the 10 percent ad valorem tariff on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum articles under HTS 7601.10 effective 12:01 eastern daylight time on August 16, 2020.

See the link here for the complete proclamation as issued by President Trump.

Crane Trade Services can assist you with understanding if these exclusions apply to your products and determine any duty mitigation possibilities - for assistance please contact CWTSConsulting@craneww.com