b'10American Journal of Transportation ajot.comWill Biden ditch the Trump tariffs? US, EU race to avoid escalation InternationalpressuresmaymotivatethePresidenttoact.Butin metals tariff disputeengaging China is a nagging issue. The Biden administrationAsiaandelsewhereover is in talks with the EuropeanriskstoAmericannational By Peter Buxbaum, AJOT Uniontoavoidanescala- security.TheEUhassince tion in a dispute over tariffsretaliated and on June 1 is set The Biden administrationboundariesofwhatisper- havesignificantlyraisedtheonEuropeanmetalsexportsto increase tariffs on a list of hasreversedmanyTrump- missible under the aegis ofproduction costs for equipmentasthetransatlanticallianceAmerican products to 50%.era policies, but has draggednational security. manufacturers, he noted.tries to repair their economic its feet on rescinding the tar- Datashowthatsteelcounterweight against China, iffsonsteelandaluminumpricesincreasedfollowingpeople familiar with the matter imports the former presidenttheimplementationofthesaid.imposedunderSection232Section 232 tariffs. An indexCommerce Secretary Gina of the Trade Expansion Act ofofhot-rolledcoilpricesinRaimondo, on a call with EU 1962.Underthatprovision,theU.S.foundtheyspikedtrade chief Valdis Dombrovskis the former president justifiedto$916.80pertoninJunelast week, inquired about what the levies with a finding that2018, a 10-year high at thecould be done to avoid a loom-the imports posed a threat totime.AsofApril12,theing escalation of European tar- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondonational security. indexstoodatanall-timeiffs,accordingtothepeople,While Raimondo explained Tariffdetractorswerehigh of $1,355.00 per ton. who asked not to be named dis- to Dombrovskis that the U.S. hoping for faster action fromThose price increases havecussing private talks. is not yet in a position to lift its Biden, who criticized TrumpscauseddamagetoequipmentAtissueisahigh-pro- tariffs on EU metals, she sig-approach to tariffs during themanufacturers across the U.S.,filedisputethatstartedinnaled that the Biden adminis-presidentialcampaign. Writ- accordingtoDennisSlater,Dennis Slater, president of the AEM 2018 under former Presidenttration wanted to find a way inginForeignAffairslastpresident of the Association ofArecentReutersreportDonaldTrumpthatsawthetopreventfurtherescalation spring,BidendenouncedEquipment Manufacturers. The(DITCHcontinued onU.S.imposedutiesonsteel(DISPUTEcontinued on the tariffs as damaging andtariffs on steel and aluminumpage 12) and aluminum from Europe,page 20)reckless and dissented from Trumpsapproachofdes-ignatingimportsfromthe United States closest alliesas national security threats.WE KNOWPresident Joe Biden PEOPLESincehisinauguration, Bidenhasre-imposedthe Section232tariffsonalu-minumproductsfromthe UnitedArabEmiratesthat Trump lifted in the last days ofhisadministration,nota goodsignforthosehoping for a change of direction. The WhiteHousedidannounce, however,thattheTrump tariff regime is under review.FansoftheSection232 measures, like the Economic PolicyInstitute,inarecent report,saytheyimproved industryconditions,spurred investments, and directly cre-ated3,200newsteelmaking jobs.TheEPIalsoclaimed that the measures helped curb U.S. steel imports by 27% by 2019 with no meaningful real-worldimpactontheprices ofsteel-consumingproducts, such as motor vehicles.t heD ebAteR eneWeD sub- Mexicomadeeasy.Thoseclaimsare jecttodispute,justasthe notion that they were appro-priateundernationalsecu-ritystandardswasdubious. Opponents of the tariffs say thetariffshurtU.S.manu-facturersthatusesteeland aluminum in their production andopenupopportunities forcorruptioninthemessy exclusionsprocess.And,as noted by Simon Lester, asso-ciatedirectoroftheCato1000 Foust Rd., Brownsville, TX 78521(956) 831-45921-800-378-5395Institutes trade policy center,portofbrownsville.comtheyinflametensionswith closealliesbypushingthe'