ExecutiveOrdersEO
Proc 7529ProclamationG.W. Bush · R

Proclamation 7529

To Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition From Imports of Certain Steel Products

President George W. Bush imposed safeguard measures on imported steel products following ITC findings of serious injury to domestic steel industries. The proclamation establishes tariff rate quotas and increased duties on various steel imports for 3 years plus 1 day, effective March 20, 2002, with exemptions for Canada, Mexico, Israel, Jordan, and certain developing countries.

Federal Register Open PDF 67 FR 10553

Impact dates

  1. HTS provisions automatically delete

  2. Safeguard measures expire (3 years plus 1 day)

  3. USTR to consider product exclusion requests

  4. USTR must proclaim any reduction/modification/termination

  5. USTR determination whether WTO consultations require reduction/modification/termination

  6. Safeguard measures effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse

Key directives

  • Impose tariff rate quota on steel slabs for 3 years plus 1 day with annual quota increases and over-quota duty reductions
  • Increase duties on specified flat steel, bar, tubular products, fittings, stainless products, tin mill products, and wire for 3 years plus 1 day with annual reductions
  • Exclude products of Canada, Israel, Jordan, and Mexico from safeguard measures
  • Exclude developing country WTO members with under 3% import share (collective cap 9%)
  • Require foreign trade zone admissions on/after March 20, 2002 to use 'privileged foreign status'
  • USTR to determine within 30 days if WTO consultations necessitate measure changes
  • USTR to proclaim any changes within 40 days
  • USTR to consider exclusion requests within 120 days
  • USTR to review additional exclusions each March
  • Supersede inconsistent prior proclamations and Executive Orders

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Safeguard measures effective March 20, 2002 for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse
  • USTR must determine within 30 days if WTO consultations require measure reduction/modification/termination
  • USTR must proclaim any such reduction/modification/termination within 40 days of proclamation date

Near term (90d)

  • USTR authorized to consider product exclusion requests within 120 days after proclamation date
  • USTR may publish Federal Register notices to modify HTS provisions for excluded products

Long term

  • Annual duty reductions in years 2 and 3 of safeguard measures
  • Annual increases in within-quota quantities for slabs
  • USTR may consider additional product exclusions each March while measures remain in effect
  • Safeguard measures expire March 21, 2005 (3 years plus 1 day from March 20, 2002)
  • HTS provisions automatically delete at close of March 21, 2006 or 1 year after safeguard measures close

Risks & tensions

  • WTO dispute risk: unilateral steel safeguards triggered major WTO litigation and retaliatory threats from EU and other trading partners
  • NAFTA tension: selective Canadian/Mexican exemption created political friction with other allies
  • Developing country surge clause (para 12) creates uncertainty for WTO members near threshold
  • Annual March review mechanism creates ongoing trade policy uncertainty
  • ITC split decisions on tin mill products and stainless steel wire required presidential intervention to adopt affirmative view
Proclamation 7529: To Facilitate Positive Adjustment to Competition From Imports of Certain Steel Products · Executive Orders