Actions resulting from the Commerce Department’s ongoing national security investigation on steel imports could disrupt U.S. import-intensive industries and any remedies should be tailored to specific types of steel, companies said in comments to Commerce (here). Commerce recently posted comments it accepted through May 31 on its Section 232 investigation on steel imports, which would allow the Trump administration to impose tariffs, quotas or other import restraints if the review finds steel imports endanger U.S. national security. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said the department should finish the examination this month (see 1705240034).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is shortening the period until deadline for comments on its investigation into how aluminum imports affect national security, the agency said (here). BIS must now receive written submissions by June 23 to be considered in drafting the final report, but commenters are “encouraged” to submit information by June 20, BIS said. The agency’s previous deadline was June 29 (see 1705080004). “Moving the deadline for all written submissions to June 23, 2017 will enable the Commerce Department to more expeditiously finalize the report, taking account of the time-sensitive nature of the national security implications related to this section 232 investigation of aluminum, and of the President’s direction to move quickly on this important matter,” BIS said. “The Commerce Department has included one additional day after the [June 22 investigation] hearing concludes to allow people who attend or view remotely the hearing to submit any additional comments they may have in response to testimony during the hearing.”
A slew of steel industry executives urged Trump administration officials to take action against steel imports in its ongoing Section 232 investigation during a May 24 Commerce Department hearing, as foreign industry and government representatives pleaded for a more measured approach. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross during the hearing said that his department is working to conclude the investigation by the end of June, much sooner than the legal deadline of 270 days after the administration’s April 19 launch of the investigation, which would allow the administration to assess tariffs, quotas or other import restraints if the examination finds steel imports endanger national security (see 1704200029).
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There's still some question as to exactly how broad the Commerce Department's Section 232 investigations on steel and aluminum imports will be (see 1704200029 and 1704270024), members of the trade community said during a panel discussion May 3. The broadness of the administration’s definition of “national security” will determine the range of products covered by any safeguard measures, Allegheny Technologies Vice President Terrence Hartford said during a Kelley Drye event examining the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency. Commerce Department officials are also under more pressure to finish antidumping and countervailing determinations early, said the panelists.
President Donald Trump signed a memo on April 27 that outlines the Commerce Department’s Section 232 investigation into aluminum imports (here), which started the day before (see 1704270024). The memo orders the investigation to take into account how the quantities, availability, character and use of those imports affect the U.S.’s ability to meet national security requirements, noting the close relationship between the nation’s economic welfare and national security. Should the investigation find that aluminum imports are threatening or impairing national security, the report must recommend actions and steps to adjust imports so they won’t have that impact, the memo said.
The Commerce Department on April 26 started an investigation into aluminum imports that could give President Donald Trump broad authority to level tariffs or quotas if it finds that the imports endanger national security, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during an April 26 briefing. “It is an investigation,” Ross said. “It is not one that has come to a conclusion. Therefore, we are not levying countervailing duties or taking any other action. This simply is starting the process and trying to accelerate it.” While aluminum imports “have been flooding” the U.S., the investigation lead to a decision on whether to respond with a trade remedy or some alternative, Ross said. Asked about the possibility of World Trade Organization actions taken in connection with the U.S. investigation, Ross said the administration will act “based on our view as to what are the proper rules, and our view as to who’s violating those rules. The WTO will do what they do.”
The Trump administration may launch Section 232 investigations that could result in additional tariffs on semiconductors, shipbuilding and aluminum, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (here). Like an investigation on steel launched on April 20 (see 1704200029), the investigations would determine the effects of imports of each product and their effects on national security, potentially resulting in tariffs or other import and export restraints. A Section 232 investigation on aluminum is expected to be announced soon, CNBC reported (here). The Bureau of Industry and Security, which carries out Section 232 investigations, did not immediately comment.
The Commerce Department on April 19 launched an investigation that could result in the imposition of tariffs, quotas or other import restraints on steel. Commerce will examine whether steel imports threaten national security and a finding in the affirmative would allow President Donald Trump to take action to “adjust imports.” Trump signed a memorandum (here) the following day, April 20, instructing Commerce to carry out the inquiry “expeditiously." The Section 232 investigation is legally required to be completed within 270 days, though Trump said at the memorandum’s signing ceremony that he expects the agency’s report in the “next 30 to 50 days, I would say, and maybe sooner.”
President-elect Donald Trump's hard-line trade stance expressed throughout his campaign is seen by some as more of a negotiating tactic than a clear indicator of likely policy changes. While scholars still wonder how Trump would react if such talks don’t meet his goals, there's much debate as to what authority the president has to enact many of the Trump campaign promises. Among other things, Trump has said the U.S. should renegotiate NAFTA (see 1611100040), collect up to 45 percent tariffs to counter alleged Chinese currency manipulation (see 1601150029), and raise tariffs on companies that move operations overseas, withdrawing from the World Trade Organization if it disapproves of that policy (see 1607260043). Withdrawing from the WTO seems the least likely of those proposals, but a greater effort to engage China from a Trump administration is especially likely, observers said.