Ukraine's plan to reduce the effect of US duties on aluminum and steel

American duties could hit the budget hard, the Ukrainian industrial associations said.

The MEDT (Ministry of Economic Development and Trade) is working on the exit of Ukrainian products from the tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, which the Trump administration imposed on March 23. As Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv informed, negotiations on this topic with Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch are to be held in the near future.

“The position of the Ukrainian side towards the top US leadership suggests considering the expediency of organizing a meeting at the level of Ukraine with the Ambassador of the United States of America. We informed the government and the president as a whole on this area of ​​work, respectively. We have prepared proposals, having consulted with business, with associations, on the roadmap that we must go through in the legislative field, ”the Deputy Prime Minister said.

American duties can hurt the Ukrainian budget, which will happen, among other things, as a result of the reaction of the European Union, which has already begun an investigation into the introduction of similar duties. Such measures for Ukraine may become even more painful than the actions of the United States.

Ukrainians supply $ 150 million worth of metal products to the United States of America, and $ 1.3 billion worth of such products to the European Union.

Experts also note that such measures will lead to a decrease in the production of metallurgical products in the country, the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, a decrease in budget revenues and foreign exchange earnings, the newspaper reports.