On the eve of President Donald Trump’s formal 232 national security investigation decision, American Institute for International Steel chairman sent the White House a last-minute plea for an exemption for Turkey.

Writing in both his capacity as AIIS chairman and president of trading company Kurt Orban Partners LLC, Foster makes a case for Turkey’s necessity to the US market, Kallanish understands.

“As a steel importer for over 30 years, I have found the steel mills in that country to be privately held and often family owned businesses that pride themselves in their cost effectiveness and ability to compete globally, fairly and on a level playing field,” Foster says. “Thousands of downstream jobs are dependent on this competitively priced steel from Turkey and respectfully submit the Turkish mills be exempted from any section 232 tariff’s or quotas. We all believe in a strong and vibrant domestic steel industry and in fair and responsible trade. We are also in a global economy that benefits from free trade in steel with responsible countries.”

On Thursday, President Trump signed the 25% steel tariffs into law with explicit exemptions for Canada and Mexico. Other countries may be considered as part of negotiations with the US Trade Representative.