Biden reimposes tariffs on aluminum from UAE

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reinstated tariffs on aluminum exported from the United Arab Emirates on Monday evening, reversing President Donald Trump’s decision to lift them on his last day in office.

The decision is one of Biden’s first significant moves on trade and suggests that his administration may be inclined to maintain the type of hefty tariffs Trump imposed on foreign metals to protect domestic industry. That position found favor with unions and progressive Democrats, but disappointed industries and businesses that have argued the tariffs raise costs.

Biden and his deputies have so far declined to say whether they would keep or remove the spate of tariffs Trump imposed on a range of products, from steel and aluminum to Chinese imports. Instead, his top officials have said the administration plans to carry out a comprehensive review of the tariffs’ economic effects before making any decisions.

The tariffs on foreign aluminum are designed to protect American producers, which have struggled to compete with low-priced foreign products.

In March 2018, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from a variety of countries, including the UAE, saying their metal exports had put American aluminum producers out of business and therefore threatened national security. He subsequently exempted aluminum from Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico and, just hours before his term ended, lifted the aluminum tariffs on the UAE.

Trump’s decision appeared to be motivated more by political than economic considerations. The decision to lift tariffs on the UAE was led by White House officials, including Trump’s son-inlaw, Jared Kushner, who had just carried out extensive negotiations to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE. It was made without the support of many specialists in the Commerce Department and the United States trade representative, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

In a proclamation issued late Monday evening, Biden said the concerns that had fueled the tariffs in the first place still existed. “In my view, the available evidence indicates that imports from the UAE may still displace domestic production, and thereby threaten to impair our national security,” Biden said.