Presidential Documents

40429 

Federal Register 

Vol. 158, No. 83 

Wednesday, August 15, 2018 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 9772 of August 10, 2018 

Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

1. On January 11, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted 

to me a report on his investigation into the effect of imports of steel articles 

on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the 

Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862). The Secretary 

found and advised me of his opinion that steel articles are being imported 

into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances 

as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States. 

2. In Proclamation 9705 of March 8, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into 

the United States), I concurred in the Secretary’s finding that steel articles, 

as defined in clause 1 of Proclamation 9705, as amended by clause 8 of 

Proclamation 9711 of March 22, 2018 (Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the 

United States), are being imported into the United States in such quantities 

and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security 

of the United States, and decided to adjust the imports of these steel articles 

by imposing a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on such articles imported from 

most countries. 

3. In Proclamation 9705, I also directed the Secretary to monitor imports 

of steel articles and inform me of any circumstances that in the Secretary’s 

opinion might indicate the need for further action under section 232 with 

respect to such imports. 

4. The Secretary has informed me that while capacity utilization in the 

domestic steel industry has improved, it is still below the target capacity 

utilization level the Secretary recommended in his report. Although imports 

of steel articles have declined since the imposition of the tariff, I am advised 

that they are still several percentage points greater than the level of imports 

that would allow domestic capacity utilization to reach the target level. 

5. In light of the fact that imports have not declined as much as anticipated 

and capacity utilization has not increased to that target level, I have concluded that it is necessary and appropriate in light of our national security 

interests to adjust the tariff imposed by previous proclamations. 

6. In the Secretary’s January 2018 report, the Secretary recommended that 

I consider applying a higher tariff to a list of specific countries should 

I determine that all countries should not be subject to the same tariff. 

One of the countries on that list was the Republic of Turkey (Turkey). 

As the Secretary explained in that report, Turkey is among the major exporters of steel to the United States for domestic consumption. To further reduce 

imports of steel articles and increase domestic capacity utilization, I have 

determined that it is necessary and appropriate to impose a 50 percent 

ad valorem tariff on steel articles imported from Turkey, beginning on August 

13, 2018. The Secretary has advised me that this adjustment will be a 

significant step toward ensuring the viability of the domestic steel industry. 

7. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, authorizes 

the President to adjust the imports of an article and its derivatives that 

are being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such 

circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security. 


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40430 Federal Register / Vol. 158, No. 83 / Wednesday, August 15, 2018 / Presidential Documents 

8. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), 

authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 

the United States (HTSUS) the substance of statutes affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States 

of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, including section 232 of the Trade 

Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, section 301 of title 3, United States 

Code, and section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, do hereby 

proclaim as follows: 

(1) In order to establish increases in the duty rate on imports of steel 

articles from Turkey, subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS is modified 

as provided in the Annex to this proclamation. Clause 2 of Proclamation 

9705, as amended by clause 1 of Proclamation 9740 of April 30, 2018 

(Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States), is further amended 

by striking the last two sentences and inserting in lieu thereof the following 

three sentences: ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this proclamation, or 

in notices published pursuant to clause 3 of this proclamation, all steel 

articles imports specified in the Annex shall be subject to an additional 

25 percent ad valorem rate of duty with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, as follows: (a) on 

or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on March 23, 2018, from all countries 

except Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and the 

member countries of the European Union; (b) on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern 

daylight time on June 1, 2018, from all countries except Argentina, Australia, 

Brazil, and South Korea; and (c) on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight 

time on August 13, 2018, from all countries except Argentina, Australia, 

Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey. Further, except as otherwise provided 

in notices published pursuant to clause 3 of this proclamation, all steel 

articles imports from Turkey specified in the Annex shall be subject to 

a 50 percent ad valorem rate of duty with respect to goods entered for 

consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 

12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 13, 2018. These rates of duty, 

which are in addition to any other duties, fees, exactions, and charges 

applicable to such imported steel articles, shall apply to imports of steel 

articles from each country as specified in the preceding two sentences.’’. 

(2) The text of U.S. note 16(a)(i) to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the 

HTSUS is amended by deleting ‘‘Heading 9903.80.01 provides’’ and inserting 

the following in lieu thereof: ‘‘Except as provided in U.S. note 16(a)(ii), 

which applies to products of Turkey that are provided for in heading 

9903.80.02, heading 9903.80.01 provides’’. 

(3) U.S. note 16(a)(ii) to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS is 

re-designated as U.S. note 16(a)(iii) to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the 

HTSUS. 

(4) The following new U.S. note 16(a)(ii) to subchapter III of chapter 

99 of the HTSUS is inserted in numerical order: ‘‘(ii) Heading 9903.80.02 

provides the ordinary customs duty treatment of iron or steel products 

of Turkey, pursuant to the article description of such heading. For any 

such products that are eligible for special tariff treatment under any of 

the free trade agreements or preference programs listed in general note 

3(c)(i) to the tariff schedule, the duty provided in this heading shall be 

collected in addition to any special rate of duty otherwise applicable under 

the appropriate tariff subheading, except where prohibited by law. Goods 

for which entry is claimed under a provision of chapter 98 and which 

are subject to the additional duties prescribed herein shall be eligible for 

and subject to the terms of such provision and applicable U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (‘‘CBP’’) regulations, except that duties under subheading 9802.00.60 shall be assessed based upon the full value of the imported article. No claim for entry or for any duty exemption or reduction 


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shall be allowed for the iron or steel products enumerated in subdivision 

(b) of this note under a provision of chapter 99 that may set forth a lower 

rate of duty or provide duty-free treatment, taking into account information 

supplied by CBP, but any additional duty prescribed in any provision of 

this subchapter or subchapter IV of chapter 99 shall be imposed in addition 

to the duty in heading 9903.80.02.’’. 

(5) Paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of U.S. note 16 to subchapter III of chapter 

99 of the HTSUS are each amended by replacing ‘‘heading 9903.80.01’’ 

with ‘‘headings 9903.80.01 and 9903.80.02’’. 

(6) The ‘‘Article description’’ for heading 9903.80.01 of the HTSUS is 

amended by replacing ‘‘of Brazil’’ with ‘‘of Brazil, of Turkey’’. 

(7) The modifications to the HTSUS made by clauses 2 through 6 of 

this proclamation and the Annex to this proclamation shall be effective 

with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse 

for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 

13, 2018, and shall continue in effect, unless such actions are expressly 

reduced, modified, or terminated. 

(8) The Secretary, in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

of the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant executive departments and agencies, shall revise the HTSUS so that it conforms to the 

amendments directed by this proclamation. The Secretary shall publish any 

such modification to the HTSUS in the Federal Register. 

(9) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that 

is inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is superseded 

to the extent of such inconsistency. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of 

August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third. 

Billing code 3295–F8–P 


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40432 Federal Register / Vol. 158, No. 83 / Wednesday, August 15, 2018 / Presidential Documents 

[FR Doc. 2018–17703 

Filed 8–14–18; 8:45 a.m.] 

Billing code 7020–02–C 


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ANNEX 

TO MODIFY CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 99 OF 

THE HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE UNITED STATES 

Effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for 

consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 13, 2018, subchapter III of 

chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is modified by inserting in 

numerical sequence the following new tariff provision, with the material in the new tariff 

provisions inserted in the columns labeled "Heading/Subheading", "Article Description", "Rates 

of Duty 1-General", "Rates ofDuty 1-Special," and "Rates ofbuty 2", respectively: 

Rates of Duty 

Heading/ Article description 1 2 

Subheading 

General Special 

9903.80.02 Products of iron or steel that are the product ofTurkey and 

provided for in the tariff headings or subheadings 

enumerated in note 16(b} to this subchapter, except any 

exclusions that may be determined and announced by the 

Department of Commerce ...................................................... 50%