U.S. presents plan to drop duties on aluminum imports after Canada threatens retaliation

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said today it's poised to drop tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports — just hours before Canada was set to unveil counter-measures in retaliation.

A statement from the USTR said that after consultations with the Canadian government, the U.S. has determined that trade is expected to "normalize" in the last four months of the year, declining after "surges" experienced earlier in the year.

"Accordingly, the United States will modify the terms of the 10 per cent tariff imposed in August on imports of Canadian non-alloyed unwrought aluminum," the statement reads.

The USTR's statement lays out shipment volumes for each of those four months, which will be monitored to ensure they aren't exceeded. If they do, the U.S. expects that imports would decline by a corresponding amount the following month.

The tariffs could be re-imposed if shipment volumes exceed 105 per cent of the stated volumes, it said...

This was excerpted from the 15 September 2020 edition of CBC News.