INGAA asks Trump Administration to exempt pipeline products from steel tariffs

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) recently urged the Trump Administration to exempt steel products used to build natural gas transmission pipelines

We believe the steel products used to build interstate pipeline infrastructure meet the two, independent criteria on which the president directed the Commerce Secretary to make exemptions: lack of sufficient U.S. production capacity and national security-based considerations,” INGAA President and CEO Don Santa said.

Santa noted that for some steel products used for pipelines, there is zero domestic availability. Approximately 65 percent of high-strength plate/coil imports and large-diameter line pipe imports come from NATO countries. Approximately 80 percent of imports come from either NATO countries or treaty nations such as Japan and South Korea, Santa said.

He also discussed the role that pipelines play in U.S. national security and that insufficient pipeline capacity can lead the United States to increase fuel imports

“The ability to expand pipeline infrastructure in an efficient and predictable manner is critical to the United States realizing the full potential of its domestic energy abundance,” Santa said. “Imports of both pipeline-quality steel, and pipe products, are necessary for timely construction of the new pipeline infrastructure needed to link natural gas producers with industrial, power generation and residential customers, and ensure our national security.”