The US Court of International Trade has ordered the US Customs and Border Protection to not collect duties from PrimeSource Building Products. These duties were levied by the administration when it expanded its Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs to include steel derivative products in January 2020.
The Texas-based firm, which is an importer of derivative steel products such as steel nails and aluminum cables, had approached the court last week to spare its imports from the duties under the section 232 tariffs.
PrimeSource had earlier requested for a nationwide restraining order on these tariffs, but later withdrew it after reaching an agreement with the CBP and other US agencies who agreed to not impose these duties on PrimeSource for now.
In its request to the court on Feb 11, the company had said that the Trump administration had failed to follow due procedure to expand the tariffs and was therefore “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
PrimeSource alleged that due to these tariffs they would have to pay millions of dollars in unexpected duties, thereby increasing the company’s costs.
The court’s ruling in this case is likely to set a precedent for other companies impacted by the expanded duties on steel derivatives.