No exceptions for Taiwan steelworkers

Taiwan was unable to get an exemption from the list of countries whose US steel and aluminum exports should be tariff-driven. Steel and aluminum producers are heeding the government's call to seek other markets, expanding supplies to Europe and Southeast Asia

US President Donald Trump has signed proclamations allowing exemptions from quotas on steel from South Korea, Brazil and Argentina, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement.

Taiwan was the ninth largest source of US steel imports last year, while Brazil, South Korea and Argentina were the second, third and sixth largest, respectively. Tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico came into effect on June 1.

The US is typically Taiwan's largest export destination for affected steel products, but the ministry's latest statistics showed that in the first seven months of this year, the US became the second largest market for these products after China. In response to tariffs, the government has encouraged local manufacturers to diversify their export markets outside the United States.

Due to rejected orders from China, shipments of Taiwanese aluminum products to the United States, taking into account higher tariffs, did not decrease from April to the last month, but instead increased 3.8 times to $ 70 million, leading to a decrease in the total export of such products. goods to $ 290 million in the period, the ministry said.

The Economy Department said yesterday that the government would continue negotiations with the US to exempt steel and aluminum exports from higher tariffs, but added that local producers should pay close attention to restrictions on imports of such products imposed by the EU and Canada.