Facing imminent Canadian countermeasures against the United States’ Section 232 tariffs  on Canadian articles of aluminum (see What goes around comes around… Canada Issues List of Proposed Countermeasures against U.S. Aluminum Duties), on September 15, 2020, the United States withdrew its duties, retroactive to September 1, 2020.

Harking back to the days of Voluntary Restraint Agreements (VRAs), the United States issued a list of “expected” monthly import volumes for Canadian imports over the September-December 2020 period:

September: 83,000 tonnes

October: 70,000 tonnes

November: 83,000 tonnes

December: 70,000 tonnes

If shipments in any month exceed the expected volume, the United States expects that shipments in the next month will decline by a corresponding amount.  If imports exceed 105 percent of the expected volume in any month, the United States may re-impose the 10 percent tariff going forward.

At the end of the year, Canada and the United States will review the state of aluminum trade and expected market conditions in 2021.

Tereposky & DeRose regularly provides advice on Canadian trade matters. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, we are at your disposal.

The U.S. Blinks First – No Tariffs on Imports of Canadian Aluminum (15 September 2020)