U.S.-EU Joint Statement Modifies U.S. Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariffs, Lifts EU Retaliatory Tariffs, and Announces Negotiations of a First-ever Carbon-based Sectoral Arrangement

On October 30, 2021, the United States and the European Union (EU, excluding the United Kingdom) issued a “Steel and Aluminum EU-US Joint Statement,” announcing their joint desire to address nonmarket overcapacity to preserve their steel and aluminum industries. This Executive Briefing on Trade describes the U.S.-EU actions to 1) modify the U.S. Section 232 national security tariffs on EU steel and aluminum; 2) remove the EU retaliatory tariff countermeasures on selected U.S. goods; 3) suspend their respective panel disputes before the World Trade Organization (WTO); and 4) augment enforcement mechanisms against tariff circumvention by third-country sector products. In addition, the parties announced their intentions to negotiate the world’s first carbon-based industry sectoral arrangement by 2024 that will seek not only to address global sectoral overcapacity to restore market-oriented conditions, but also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.