Prices for imported flat-rolled steel in the United States fell ahead of widespread anticipation that the Trump administration will end exemptions from Section 232 tariffs and quotas for Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
Tariffs, quotas or a combination of both will kick in at 12.01am US Eastern Time on Friday June 1, unless President Donald Trump backtracks at the last minute, sources said.A framework deal between Australia and the US appears to have fallen apart too, two sources said.But Australia - unlike the EU and the US' North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) partners - is not subject to the Friday deadline."It seems a tariff will be imposed [on the European Union]... And it also seems that no one will have a chance for a full exemption," a trader in the US East Coast said.The exact contours of the US trade actions were not clear late on Wednesday May 30.But multiple European mills had nonetheless frozen their order books in anticipation of Section 232 penalties - which came in the wake of a probe into whether steel imports...