Vallourec USA is discussing with the US Department of Commerce the exemption of the 25% tariff over semi-finished steel tubes exported from Vallourec do Brasil, Vallourec’s Brazilian division told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 14.
US President Donald Trump signed into law tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports on March 8.
Vallourec’s Brazilian unit had been improving production levels by exporting semi-finished tubes to the US for further processing, until the Section 232 investigation forced it to hit the brakes.
The company is also “confident” that Brazilian steel products should be excluded altogether from the tariffs, because the Brazilian and US steel production chains are “complementary,” Vallourec said.
“Vallourec do Brasil will take actions, along with [Brazil’s steel institute] Aço Brasil and government authorities, to show that 81% of Brazilian steel exports to the US are actually intermediate goods,” the company added.