New Section 232 Investigations Launched on Polysilicon, Drones
The Commerce Department is launching a pair of Section 232 investigations into imports of drones and polysilicon from China, according to notices released July 14. Comments are due on Aug. 6 for polysilicon and its derivatives and for drones and their parts.
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Both sets of products already face additional tariffs due to combined Section 301 and emergency duties. Drones imported from China, the leading manufacturer of the product, face a 55% combined tariff, while polysilicon and Chinese solar wafers face 80% tariffs (see 2412110002).
Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov, BIS-2025-0059 for drones and BIS-2025-0028 for polysilicon and its derivatives.
Questions the agency is seeking comments on cover the same ground for both notices -- how much exports supply the domestic consumption of the products, how much subsidies and overproduction damage domestic sectors, whether the foreign exporters could weaponize their dominance, and how current trade policy affects domestic industry. It asks for both notices, if additional tariffs or quotas are necessary to protect national security.
Last year, the House Select Committee on China's leaders and 11 other members of Congress told the administration that a 25% tariff under Section 301 on drones had not dampened the flow of Chinese drones, and they asked that Homeland Security Investigations examine if Malaysian drones are transshipped Chinese products (see 2403200070).
Drones subsidized by the government of China "threaten U.S. national security by undermining the growth of the domestic U.S. drone industry needed to produce the unmanned aerial, surface, and underwater systems that are critical for our national defense," they said.