If Mexico should face US tariffs for its steel as a result of the US' Section 232 investigation, Mexico is "obliged to immediately answer with the application of equivalent and reciprocal measures," Mexican steel chamber Canacero said Wednesday.
Mexico should not be included in the Section 232 "as it does not represent any threat to US national security," Canacero said in a statement.
Mexico should be treated differently by the US, since the majority of US steel exports are to Mexico and Canada, the group said.
"The US had a $3.4 billion surplus in its steel trade balance with Mexico in 2017, exporting a total of $9.8 billion during the year - an increase of 58% when compared to 2008," Canacero said.
Mexico exported 1.8 million mt of finished steel to the US in 2017, while it imported 3.1 million mt from the US.
Canacero has asked the Mexican government to evaluate the measures of reciprocity the country could take in case of being included in the US 232 Section and to "formally communicate to its US counterparts the serious implications of bringing such restrictions to the region, especially during [North American Free Trade Agreement] NAFTA negotiations."
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross released on February 16 details of the Department of Commerce's recommendations to President Donald Trump regarding steel imports after a nine-month investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 regarding imports' impact on US national security.
Ross recommended three possibilities: a global tariff of at least 24% on all steel imports from all countries; a tariff of at least 53% on all steel imports from 12 countries (Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam) with a quota, by product, on steel imports from all other countries equal to 100% of their 2017 exports to the US; a quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63% of a country's 2017 exports to the US.
