America’s section 232 duties on steel and aluminum, introduced by the Trump administration at the end of March and extended at the start of June, have so far trimmed rather than transformed U.S. metals imports. The volume of imports fell 16% in May vs. March levels while seaborne shipments in June were 21% below March’s. The acceleration was due to exemptions being withdrawn from suppliers in the EU, Canada and Mexico. While the mass of imports fell in the second quarter (by 13%) a rise in costs may have led the value of imports to actually increase by 4%. Seaborne shipments from the ...