NMMA WELCOMES SENATOR GRASSLEY’S CALL TO END ALUMINUM AND STEEL TARIFFS BEFORE USMCA RATIFICATION
May 5, 2019
On Sunday, April 28, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) – chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade-related matters – penned an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, stating that Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico – and both countries’ subsequent retaliatory measures – must be removed before Congress will ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). NMMA applauded Senator Grassley’s call to end aluminum, steel, and retaliatory tariffs – actions that have increased raw material costs for marine manufacturers and stifled the industry’s exports.
According to Senator Grassley’s op-ed, “A significant roadblock [to approving USMCA] is the administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum and retaliatory Canadian and Mexican tariffs on U.S. products…If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead. There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place.”
