How a Blacklisted Russian Firm Won (and Lost) a Break From Trump's Tariffs
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of companies have asked the Trump administration for a special break from its sweeping aluminum tariffs. Few have succeeded. One that managed to get an exemption is a Russian firm currently subject to Treasury Department sanctions.
How Rusal America — a branch of a Russian metals giant controlled by an oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin — managed to win an exclusion highlights the chaotic and unwieldy process surrounding President Trump’s tariffs.
While Rusal and its controlling stakeholder, Oleg V. Deripaska, are restricted by American sanctions, one of the company’s dozens of exemption requests was granted by the Commerce Department in July, apparently for the simple reason that no American manufacturer objected.
Department officials reversed the decision this week, after concluding that an American aluminum manufacturer had meant to object, but made a mistake in its paperwork.
The Trump administration has cited national security concerns in imposing tariffs of 10 percent on aluminum and 25 percent on steel, saying a flood of cheap foreign metals could degrade the American industrial base and make the United States military and others too dependent on imported metals. The tariffs hit dozens of countries, including Canada, Mexico, China and Russia, as well as the European Union.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/how-a-blacklisted-russian-firm-won-and-lost-a-break-from-trumps-tariffs/ar-BBLJ38F?li=BBnbfcN
