From 2018 to 2021, US importers bore nearly the full cost of the Section 232 tariffs on imports of aluminum and steel products, and the Section 301 tariffs on thousands of products imported from China, according to a new report released by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).
The report, titled Economic Impact of Section 232 and 301 Tariffs on U.S. Industries, found that on average between 2018 and 2021:
- Importers bore nearly the full cost of the tariffs because import prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs at a rate of about 1%.
- Section 232 tariffs reduced affected steel imports by 24%, increased the price of steel products in the US by 2.4%, and increased US steel production by 1.9% and $1.3 billion.
- Section 232 tariffs recued affected aluminum imports by 31%, increased the price of aluminum products in the US by 1.6%, and increased US aluminum production by 3.6% and $0.9 billion.
- Section 232 increased domestic sourcing and reduced production in downstream industries in the US that used steel and aluminum products as inputs by 0.6% on average, and increased prices in downstream industries by 0.2% on average.
- US production in downstream industries was $3.5 billion less in 2021 due to Section 232 tariffs.
- Section 301 tariffs reduced imports from China by 13% across all affected sectors, increased the value of US production by 0.4%, and increased the price of US products by 0.2%.
- Section 301 duties reduced imports of computer equipment by 5%, increased the price of computer equipment in the US by 0.8%, and increased the value of US production of computer equipment by 1.2%.
- Section 301 tariffs reduced imports of semiconductors by 72.3%, increased the price of semiconductors in the US by 4.1%, and increased the value of US production of semiconductors by 6.4%.
The report did not draw any broad conclusions about whether the tariffs under Section 232 and Section 301 had a positive or negative impact on the US economy overall.
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