Commerce Department Grants 42 Requests for Steel Product Tariff Exclusion

16:14 GMT, 20 June 2018

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Ken Lund / United States Department of Commerce

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Commerce Department has granted 42 requests for steel product tariff exclusions and denied 56 out of 98 other requests, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during his testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee.

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"Today, we are announcing our first determinations on 98 exclusion requests for steel products, granting 42 requests and denying 56," Ross said.

Ross said the department has already received more than 20,000 exclusion requests from producers of both steel and aluminum products, posted more than 9,200 for public review and comment, and received more than 2,300 objections to exclusion requests.

Earlier in the day, the European Commission stated it had adopted the regulation on rebalancing measures in response to US tariffs, introduced by Donald Trump. That decision would enter into force on June 22, targeting a list of the US production worth 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion).

US Republican Senator: Imposing Tariffs Mistake Due to Potential for Retaliation

20 June 2018, 13:17 GMT

The United States imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports in March but suspended the tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and the European Union in order to attempt to negotiate a better deal. However, on May 31, the United States reintroduced the tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.