[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).

[[Page 3377]]

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

[[Page 3378]]

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

[[Page 3379]]

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