On May 17, 2019, the United States agreed to suspend the Section 232 tariffs that it had imposed on aluminum and steel imports from Mexico and Canada. As a result of the agreements, on May 19, 2019, President Trump issued two proclamations excluding Mexico and Canada from the scope of these tariffs (Presidential Proclamations 9704 (steel) and 9705 (aluminum).

The agreement with Mexico became effective on May 20, 2019. The agreement is in the form of a “joint statement” and contains several additional commitments. Specifically, under the agreement, the United States and Mexico agreed:

1. To terminate all pending litigation before the World Trade Organization in connection with the Section 232 tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs.

2. To adopt effective measures to “prevent the importation of aluminum and steel that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices” and “prevent the transshipment of aluminum and steel made outside of Mexico or the United States to the other country”.

3. To establish a process to monitor aluminum and steel trade between them to prevent surges in imports.

4. To allow the United States to impose duties of 25% for steel and 10% for aluminum if “imports of aluminum or steel products surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time,” after the United States first consults with Mexico.

The agreement also provides that, when assessing whether there has been a surge in steel imports, the parties must consider that additional steel imports originating in the other party may be required to implement new investments. Specifically, “the United States will consider that new investment in the United States may require an additional 225,000 metric tons of billet from Mexico” and “Mexico will consider that new investment in Mexico may require an additional 200,000 metric tons of cold-rolled steel from the United States”.

The United States reached a similar agreement with Canada. As a result of this agreement, Canada repealed the retaliatory duties it imposed on U.S. imports of steel, aluminum and other. Accordingly, as of May 19, 2019, importers of these products are no longer required to pay the retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada.