Biden keeps aluminum tariffs on U.A.E., reversing Trump policy

The Biden administration has reversed a last-minute decision by former President Donald Trump to lift aluminum tariffs on the United Arab Emirates.

US President Joe Biden Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP

The Biden administration Monday reversed a last-minute decision by former President Donald Trump to lift aluminum tariffs on the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Trump on his final day in office, Jan. 20, issued a proclamation to exempt the U.A.E. from a 10% tariff on aluminum imports, citing “an important security relationship,” and said a quota would suffice. The tariffs were first imposed in 2018.

The exemption for the U.A.E. would have gone into effect Feb. 3, but Monday night, President Biden blocked it. “In my view, the available evidence indicates that imports from the U.A.E. may still displace domestic production, and thereby threaten to impair our national security,” he wrote in a proclamation.

“I believe that maintaining the tariff is likely to be more effective in protecting our national security than the untested quota,” Mr. Biden’s statement added.

The U.A.E. embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

The new administration is scrutinizing a number of Mr. Trump’s actions as he left office. Mr. Biden has imposed a temporary freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and is reviewing the U.A.E.’s billions of dollars in weapons transactions approved by the former president.

The Trump administration first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in March of 2018, arguing that imports of steel and aluminum threatened U.S. national security. The tariffs ultimately went into effect for steel and aluminum imports from nearly every country in the world, but exemptions were made, including for Mexico and Canada.

In 2019, the U.S. imported $1.3 billion worth of U.A.E. aluminum, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Dow Jones Newswires