The US International Trade Commission (US ITC) has released a report regarding the economic impact of the Section 232 tariffs on US industries, stating that the additional tariffs imposed under Section 232 in 2018 on imports of steel products, reduced US imports of these products and increased local production and prices of the products, affecting the many industries that produce or sell these products or use them as inputs.
The report finds that, on average from 2018 to 2021, US importers bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs because import prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs. The commission estimated that prices increased by about one percent for each one percent increase in the tariffs under Section 232.
The Section 232 tariffs reduced imports of steel products by 24 percent, increased the price of steel products in the US by 2.4 percent, and increased production of steel products by 1.9 percent.
Looking at the effects of Section 232 on downstream industries in the US, domestic sourcing increased, though production decreased due to higher prices. The magnitude of these effects varied across industries. The Section 232 tariffs increased prices in downstream industries by 0.2 percent on average, and decreased production in downstream industries by 0.6 percent on average.