The U.S. has imported about 3.8 million metric tons of steel from Brazil so far this year, most of which are slab, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The South American nation’s steel accounts for about 3.5% of the 110 million tons consumed in the U.S. a year.
The Brazilian real strengthened 0.2% to 4.2267 per dollar at 9:23 a.m. in New York.
The reinstatement of tariffs will boost U.S. steel prices, benefiting domestic producers, while hurting manufacturers in Brazil.
AK Steel Holding Corp. rose 3.3% at 9:38 a.m. in New York. U.S. Steel Corp. was up 1.8%, and Steel Dynamics Inc. gained 1%.
The American depositary receipts of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau rose 0.6%. The company runs plants in the U.S.
In March 2018, Trump authorized a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% duty on aluminum -- import barriers that heralded the start of his administration’s hawkish push on trade -- after a government report found that foreign shipments of the metals imperil national-security interests.
He then directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate with countries seeking to turn their temporary tariff exemptions into permanent ones.
In August last year, he gave South Korea, Brazil and Argentina targeted relief from quotas imposed on inbound steel shipments to protect U.S. producers. The move allowed buyers to request exemptions for imports from key suppliers.
--With assistance from Shawn Donnan, Courtney Dentch, Mario Sergio Lima, Walter Brandimarte, Jonathan Gilbert, James Attwood and Pratish Narayanan.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.