Steel, aluminum imports harm U.S. national security

The U.S. Commerce Department outlined remedy options in line with Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, including blanket tariffs for all countries and direct quotas.    The Commerce Department-led reports into the national security impacts of steel and aluminum imports released on Feb. 16 found that such imports are harming U.S. national security.
   Commerce recommended three remedy options in each case to counter unfair trade practices.
   The options range from tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from all countries, except for downstream retail consumer goods such as coat hangers, to simple quotas on all imports of steel and aluminum.
   According to a Commerce summary of the reports’ recommendations, tariffs targeting specific countries are also an option.
   Among the options laid out in the steel report, pursuant to a federal “Section 232” investigation into imports of that metal, is a tariff of at least 53 percent on steel imports from Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam, with a quota by product on steel imports from all other countries of 100 percent of their 2017 exports to the U.S.
   The aluminum Section 232 report also includes an option for a tariff of 23.6 percent on all aluminum imports from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam, with all other countries subject to quotas of 100 percent of their aluminum exports to the U.S. last year, according to the summary.
   A second option of the steel report is a 24 percent global tariff on all steel imports, while the final option recommended is a straightforward quota on steel products from all countries equal to 63 percent of each country’s 2017 exports to the U.S.
   The aluminum report spells out options for a 7.7 percent tariff on all aluminum imports from all countries or a direct quota on all imports from all countries of 86.7 percent of their 2017 exports to the U.S.
   President Trump must make a decision on any Section 232 steel remedy by April 11, and any aluminum remedy by April 19. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows him to choose to implement any one recommendation in both cases, a mixture of recommendations, or to take no remedial action.
   During a meeting with congressional lawmakers and Cabinet officials at the White House earlier last week, Trump acknowledged that any remedy would have to balance job creation and consumer price considerations, but indicated that he would likely err on the side of job creation.
   Commerce’s reports also outline a process for companies to request exclusions on a product- and situation-specific basis, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on a Feb. 16 press call detailing the conclusions.   
   “National security is a very broadly encompassing topic,” Ross said in response to a question asking how he would react to critics who may claim the recommended actions are too broad. “And when you look at the report itself, you’ll see we quote from the Section 232. It is not just the narrow definition of defense needs—it’s also government, infrastructure needs and other needs.”
   He continued, “This is a perfectly valid interpretation of national security, the way that it’s used in Section 232, which is much broader than you might think, in terms of usual parlance.”