A report from the U.S International Trade Commission (USITC) found that American businesses are paying the cost of steel and aluminum tariffs.
The report was prepared in response to a direction from the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations in March 2022. Reviewing the years from 2018 to 2021, the study found that U.S. importers “bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs because prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs. The USITC estimated that prices increased by about 1 percent for each 1 percent increase in the tariffs under sections 232 and 301.”
Further, the UITC found the Section 232 tariffs reduced imports of affected steel products by 24 percent and increased the price of steel products in the United States by 2.4 percent. They also increased U.S. production of steel products by 1.9 percent, equal to $1.3 billion in increased production in 2021.
The impact on aluminum was even greater, with tariffs reducing imports by 31 percent. The cost of aluminum products rose by 1.6 percent while U.S. production went up 3.6 percent — equal to about $900 million in 2021.
Meanwhile, section 301 tariffs, which placed restrictions on a wider range of products sourced from China, reduced imports from the country by 13 percent, increased the value of U.S. production by 0.4 percent and increased the price of U.S. products by 0.2 percent.
As the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers pointed out, the tariffs resulted in $173 billion of additional costs of U.S. businesses, workers, consumers and families.