    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 133, 116th Congress, 1st Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Proclamation 9886 of May 16, 2019

    Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States

    By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

    1. On January 11, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary)
    transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effect of
    imports of steel articles on the national security of the United States
    under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19
    U.S.C. 1862).

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    The Secretary found and advised me of his opinion that steel articles
    are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under
    such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the
    United States.
    2. In Proclamation 9705 of March 8, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel
    Into the United States), I concurred in the Secretary's finding that
    steel articles, as defined in clause 1 of Proclamation 9705, as amended
    by clause 8 of Proclamation 9711 of March 22, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of
    Steel Into the United States), are being imported into the United States
    in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair
    the national security of the United States, and decided to adjust the
    imports of these steel articles by imposing a 25 percent ad valorem
    tariff on such articles imported from most countries.
    3. In Proclamation 9705, I also directed the Secretary to monitor
    imports of steel articles and inform me of any circumstances that in the
    Secretary's opinion might indicate the need for further action under
    section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, with respect
    to such imports.
    4. In August 2018, the Secretary informed me that while capacity
    utilization in the domestic steel industry had improved, it was still
    below the target capacity utilization level recommended by the Secretary
    in his report. Although imports of steel articles had declined since the
    imposition of the tariff, I was advised that they were still several
    percentage points greater than the level of imports that would allow
    domestic capacity utilization to reach the target level. Given that
    imports had not declined as much as anticipated and capacity utilization
    had not increased to that target level, I concluded that it was
    necessary and appropriate in light of our national security interests to
    adjust the tariff imposed by previous proclamations.
    5. In the Secretary's January 2018 report, the Secretary recommended
    that I consider applying a higher tariff to a list of specific countries
    should I determine that all countries should not be subject to the same
    tariff. One of the countries on that list was the Republic of Turkey
    (Turkey). As the Secretary explained in that report, Turkey was among
    the major exporters of steel to the United States for domestic
    consumption. To further reduce imports of steel articles and increase
    domestic capacity utilization, I determined in Proclamation 9772 of
    August 10, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States),
    that it was necessary and appropriate to impose a 50 percent ad valorem
    tariff on steel articles imported from Turkey, beginning on August 13,
    2018. The Secretary advised me that this adjustment would be a
    significant step toward ensuring the viability of the domestic steel
    industry.
    6. The Secretary has now advised me that, since the implementation of
    the higher tariff under Proclamation 9772, imports of steel articles
    have declined by 12 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 and imports of
    steel articles from Turkey have declined by 48 percent in 2018, with the
    result that the domestic industry's capacity utilization has improved at
    this point to approximately the target level recommended in the
    Secretary's report. This target level, if maintained for an appropriate
    period, will improve the financial viability of the domestic steel
    industry over the long term.
    7. Given these improvements, I have determined that it is necessary and
    appropriate to remove the higher tariff on steel imports from Tur

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    key imposed by Proclamation 9772, and to instead impose a 25 percent ad
    valorem tariff on steel imports from Turkey, commensurate with the
    tariff imposed on such articles imported from most countries.
    Maintaining the existing 25 percent ad valorem tariff on most countries
    is necessary and appropriate at this time to address the threatened
    impairment of the national security that the Secretary found in the
    January 2018 report.
    8. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended,
    authorizes the President to adjust the imports of an article and its
    derivatives that are being imported into the United States in such
    quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the
    national security.
    9. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483),
    authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
    the United States (HTSUS) the substance of statutes affecting import
    treatment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification,
    continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import
    restriction.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
    America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
    of the United States of America, including section 232 of the Trade
    Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, section 301 of title 3, United States
    Code, and section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, do hereby
    proclaim as follows:
    (1) Clause 2 of Proclamation 9705, as amended, is revised to read as
    follows:
    ``(2)(a) In order to establish certain modifications to the duty
    rate on imports of steel articles, subchapter III of chapter 99 of the
    HTSUS is modified as provided in the Annex to this proclamation and any
    subsequent proclamations regarding such steel articles.
    (b) Except as otherwise provided in this proclamation, or in notices
    published pursuant to clause 3 of this proclamation, all steel articles
    imports covered by heading 9903.80.01, in subchapter III of chapter 99
    of the HTSUS, shall be subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem
    rate of duty with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn
    from warehouse for consumption, as follows: (i) on or after 12:01 a.m.
    eastern daylight time on March 23, 2018, from all countries except
    Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and the
    member countries of the European Union; (ii) on or after 12:01 a.m.
    eastern daylight time on June 1, 2018, from all countries except
    Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and South Korea; (iii) on or after 12:01
    a.m. eastern daylight time on August 13, 2018, from all countries except
    Argentina, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey; and (iv) on or
    after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 21, 2019, from all
    countries except Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. Further,
    except as otherwise provided in notices published pursuant to clause 3
    of this proclamation, all steel articles imports from Turkey covered by
    heading 9903.80.02, in subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS, shall
    be subject to a 50 percent ad valorem rate of duty with respect to goods
    entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on
    or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 13, 2018 and prior
    to 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 21, 2019. All steel articles
    imports covered by heading 9903.80.61, in subchapter III of

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    chapter 99 of the HTSUS, shall be subject to the additional 25 percent
    ad valorem rate of duty established herein with respect to goods entered
    for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or
    after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on the date specified in a
    determination by the Secretary granting relief. These rates of duty,
    which are in addition to any other duties, fees, exactions, and charges
    applicable to such imported steel articles, shall apply to imports of
    steel articles from each country as specified in the preceding three
    sentences.''.
    (2) The text of U.S. note 16(a)(i) to subchapter III of chapter 99
    of the HTSUS is amended by deleting ``Except as provided in U.S. note
    16(a)(ii), which applies to products of Turkey that are provided for in
    heading 9903.80.02, heading 9903.80.01 provides'' and inserting the
    following in lieu thereof: ``Heading 9903.80.01 provides''.
    (3) Heading 9903.80.02, in subchapter III of chapter 99 of the
    HTSUS, and its accompanying material, and U.S. note 16(a)(ii) to
    subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS, are deleted.
    (4) Paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of U.S. note 16 to subchapter III
    of chapter 99 of the HTSUS are each amended by replacing ``headings
    9903.80.01 and 9903.80.02'' with ``heading 9903.80.01''.
    (5) The ``Article description'' for heading 9903.80.01 in subchapter
    III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS is amended by replacing ``of Brazil, of
    Turkey'' with ``of Brazil''.
    (6) The modifications to the HTSUS made by clauses 1 through 5 of
    this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered for
    consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after
    12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 21, 2019 and shall continue in
    effect, unless such actions are expressly reduced, modified, or
    terminated.
    (7) Any steel articles imports from Turkey that were admitted into a
    United States foreign trade zone under ``privileged foreign status'' as
    defined in 19 CFR 146.41, prior to 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on
    May 21, 2019, shall be subject upon entry for consumption on or after
    such time and date to the ad valorem rate of duty in heading 9903.80.01
    in subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS.
    (8) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders
    that is inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is
    superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of
    May, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
    third.
    DONALD J. TRUMP