The Biden administration reached a deal to partly lift tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on the Japanese steel.

The agreement, announced by the US trade officials on February 6, would preserve some protections for US metal makers by turning the current 25 per cent tariff on Japanese steel into a so-called tariff-rate quota, an arrangement under which higher levels of imports meet obligations up to 1.25 million metric tons of Japanese steel, will be allowed into the country duty-free each year, however, above this level is subject to a 25 per cent tariff. The arrangement is to take effect on April 1.

The deal will impose restrictions on products made in Japan using steel from other countries. To qualify for duty-free processing, steel products must be manufactured entirely in Japan to ensure the agreement does not provide a US back door to cheap metal from China and other countries.

The official said the countries would continue to negotiate Japan’s steps to reduce excess capacity in the steel sector, as well as to cut carbon emissions from the steel industry, which was the focus of the US steel deal with the European Union in October.