PPAI has signed onto a letter with more than 30 other U.S. trade associations representing a wide range of sectors—from manufacturing and agriculture to alcohol and consumer products—requesting the White House terminate Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs that were put in place in 2018. The associations’ letter builds on a separate letter from 300-plus U.S. manufacturing companies that, last month, requested the Biden administration put an end to these tariffs.

The letter states that since their inception, the Section 232 tariffs have caused a steadily increasing array of supply disruptions and price fluctuations for some of the most critical inputs used by U.S. manufacturers, effectively handing a competitive advantage to overseas producers of steel-based products able to source their inputs at standard global market prices. It notes that the current stress on the U.S. manufacturing sector threatens to be further exacerbated as the post-pandemic economic recovery increases demand for manufactured products. In addition, retaliatory tariffs against U.S. exports put in place by traditional trade allies in response to these tariffs have hurt a wide range U.S. exports.

The letter, in part, states: “These tariffs continue to hurt small, family-owned businesses and the communities in which they built their companies, while fracturing relations with overseas trading partners and spurring a frenzy of retaliatory trade measures against both related and unrelated industries.

“The restriction on the supply of goods and raw materials resulting from the tariffs has sent a ripple throughout downstream industries, disrupting supply chains and threatening the economic security of American workers. Our members rely on the movement of their goods and inputs without constant government intervention that causes delivery delays and arbitrary price spikes.

“Our businesses sustain communities and create jobs across the country that far outweigh any perceived benefit of the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on two industries. To grow U.S. jobs, we urge you to lift the steel and aluminum tariffs, negotiate the removal of retaliatory tariffs on American exports, and support innovative policies to make our businesses more globally competitive.”

The letter was organized by the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, the National Foreign Trade Council, and other groups representing steel and aluminum-using U.S. companies.

See the letter with a full list of signatories here.