Ukraine wants to achieve exclusion from the list of countries that will pay 25% duty on the import of steel to the United States

The Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine is taking measures to exclude Ukrainian metal products from the punitive import duties on steel imposed by the United States.

This was discussed at a regular working meeting with representatives of the metallurgical industry, took place on March 12 with the First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv and Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade - Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalya Nikolsky.

“Ukraine and the United States are strategic partners for each other. We have reliable and mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, defense and investment spheres. I am convinced that this is a weighty argument for the United States to exclude Ukrainian metallurgical products from protective duties. The Government and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade will do everything possible to ensure that the level of access of Ukrainian metallurgical products to the US market does not undergo negative changes, "said Stepan Kubiv, summing up the results of the meeting.

Kubiv also added that the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Ministry of Economic Development pay great attention to the constant dialogue between Ukraine and the United States to improve conditions and expand the accessibility of Ukrainian products, including metallurgical ones, to the US market, as well as to Asian and African markets.

“We believe that Ukrainian products, for which the American market is traditional, are not a threat to the US national security. We are working to ensure that our metallurgical products are excluded from the protective duties imposed by the US,” Natalya Nikolskaya summed up.

As you know, on March 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump decided to introduce additional protective duties of 25% from March 23 on the import of certain types of metal products originating from all countries except Australia, Canada and Mexico, in order to protect the US domestic market. The decision comes following a US Department of Commerce investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act on the impact of steel imports on US national security, which was initiated last April. The document also provides for the possibility of excluding or revising the conditions /rates of the protective duty for individual countries, provided that these countries have significant ties with the United States in the field of security.

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Over the past three years, Ukrainian metal products have been exported to the United States in the amount of: in 2015 - 119,600,000 US dollars, in 2016 - 89,700,000 US dollars, in 2017 - 175,600,000 US dollars. These are flat and long products, tubular products, semi-finished steel products.