They are not actually in force….
But their shadow is causing problems….
Even if the media has forgotten this….
The tariffs have brought higher prices for many manufacturers and construction firms and considerable uncertainty for both importers and domestic manufacturers of steel and aluminum.
When Trump issued the tariff orders, he gave temporary exemptions to a handful of the biggest steel and aluminum exporters to the United States, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the European Union. But those exemptions are set to expire on Tuesday.
At the same time, the Commerce Department is supposed to rule on hundreds of requests for exemptions from U.S. manufacturers who say that domestic firms can’t supply the particular types of metals they need.
As of the weekend, the Commerce Department had posted tariff-exclusion requests for about 650 steel importers, but roughly 5,000 more hadn’t been publicly listed on its website, including some that were submitted more than a month ago.
Commerce officials haven’t explained what’s causing the delays, but they could be costly for businesses. That’s because if a user of imported steel gets a tariff exclusion, it would be retroactive to the date on which its request was posted….