Statement by Congressman Brian Higgins on Us-Canada Agreement to Lift Steel & Aluminum Tariffs

Statement

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) released the following statement in response to the news that the United States and Canada have reached an agreement to lift 232 duties on steel and aluminum within the next two days:

"From the moment this Administration proposed these misguided tariffs on our neighbors to the north, we in Western New York immediately knew that they would be bad for our community and our economy. Canada is our closest ally and friend and should be treated as such. While I am pleased to see that these tariffs will now be removed, they should have never been imposed in the first place nor should they have lasted for so long."

On May 31, 2018 the Trump Administration announced a 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum from Canada effective June 1, 2018. At the time, Higgins spoke about the measure on the House Floor, calling the harm "real and immediate."

Canada responded with similar surtaxes on steel and aluminum from the United States effective July 1, 2018. According to the Canadian government, $14 billion in steel was traded between Canada and the U.S. in 2017.

Congressman Higgins currently serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Northern Border Caucus and was nominated to head up the Canada-US Inter-Parliamentary Group. He is a member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee including its subcommittee on Trade, as well as the House Budget Committee, and previously served as a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees. Higgins' Western New York district, which encompasses the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, borders Southern Ontario and includes three automobile and two rail crossings between the United States and Canada.

Source