Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Jan. 19 formally submitted to President Donald Trump the results of the department's Section 232 investigation on the national security effects of imports of wrought and unwrought aluminum, Commerce said in a Jan. 22 news release. Submission of the report starts a 90-day clock for Trump to decide whether to impose any import restrictions under the investigation, Commerce said. The recommendations, along with those submitted Jan. 11 in an ongoing Section 232 investigation on steel (see 1801120023), include a “wide range of options” from measures “specifically targeting ‘bad actors’” in the steel and aluminum industries to broader tariffs on steel and aluminum, according to a report from CNBC.
Ur-Energy USA and Energy Fuels Resources recently filed a joint request for a Section 232 investigation on the national security effects of uranium imports. The petition says imports of uranium, particularly from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, imperil the viability of the U.S. domestic uranium mining industry and its ability to supply uranium for nuclear weapons and reactors aboard naval vessels. The two mining companies request a quota that would reserve 25 percent of the U.S. market for domestically mined uranium, as well as a Buy America policy for U.S. government agencies that use uranium.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Jan. 11 “formally submitted” the results of its Section 232 investigation on the national security effects of steel imports to President Donald Trump, Commerce said in a press release. The Trump administration now has 90 days to decide on any potential action based on the investigation’s findings, the agency said. After that decision is announced, Commerce will publish a summary of the report in the Federal Register and release a public version of the report, it said.
The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) in a Dec. 12 letter requested a halt to the Commerce Department-led Section 232 investigations into the national security impacts of steel and aluminum imports, saying any trade actions activated pursuant to the probe would be a “misuse of policy” intended for genuine emergencies, hurt U.S. alliances and break “longstanding precedent.” “Providing the military with dependable metal is important,” the letter says. “However, the amount of steel and aluminum used for defense is a relatively small portion of the total demand, given that the defense industry consumes roughly 1 percent of all aluminum and 3 percent of steel.” NTU also called China the “scapegoat” of U.S. economic woes, adding that the nation “only” accounts for 4 percent of imported steel and 6 percent of imported aluminum. Imposing tariffs would increase costs for manufacturers who rely on lower-priced steel and aluminum imports, and in turn, raise consumer costs for such goods as automobiles, housing, soda cans and dishwashers, the NTU said. Commerce didn't comment.
The U.S. called for "real policy changes" and said “much work remains” for addressing global steel overcapacity, in a pointed Nov. 30 statement at the conclusion of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity in Berlin. “The Forum has not made meaningful progress yet on the root causes of steel excess capacity, and pointing to short-term developments and worn out promises will not cure the fundamental causes of the problem,” the statement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. “Addressing the ongoing steel excess capacity situation will require immediate and sustained concrete action by all steelmakers, including allowing markets to function, removing market-distorting subsidies and other forms of state support, and treating state-owned enterprises and private steelmakers equally.”
As the deadlines for the U.S.’s Section 232 investigations into steel and aluminum imports loom two months away, several World Trade Organization members expressed concern during a Nov. 10 meeting that affirmative findings could result in trade restrictions or retaliation, a Geneva trade official said Nov. 13. Among the attendees at the Nov. 10 meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods, China said the U.S. should avoid “triggering a surge of trade barriers and refrain from negatively affecting the flow of international trade,” while the EU said it would be the most affected WTO member if Canada and Mexico were exempted from any action. Australia said the investigations should be consistent with international trade rules, lest unjustified measures spark “retaliatory measures,” the trade source said.
The Senate Commerce Committee on Nov. 8 unanimously cleared the nomination of Nazakhtar Nikakhtar to be assistant secretary of commerce for industry and analysis in the International Trade Administration, and by one vote cleared the nomination of Dana Baiocco to be a commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, strictly along party lines. Chairman John Thune, R-N.D., cast the deciding vote of a 14-13 tally to advance Baiocco. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., continues to hold the nominations of Nikakhtar and of Gilbert Kaplan to be under secretary of commerce for international trade, until the Commerce Department gives him more information on the status of Section 232 investigations into steel and aluminum imports, a Schumer spokesman confirmed. Schumer announced the holds last month (see 1710270015). The offices of Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn’t comment.
Consumer Product Safety Commission nominee Dana Baiocco vowed to senators on Nov. 1, to err on the side of voluntary recalls over mandatory recalls. During her Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing, Baiocco said voluntary recall is one of the most effective programs of the CPSC, and added that mandatory recalls take longer to develop, and should be issued only when the voluntary process fails. CPSC could expedite the voluntary process by “not getting bogged down” in “the details of the written message” all the time, she said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will block the nominations of Gilbert Kaplan to be under secretary of commerce for international trade and Nazakhtar Nikakhtar to be an assistant secretary of commerce for industry and analysis at the International Trade Administration until the Commerce Department gives more information on the progress of metal import reviews, Schumer said in a statement. The Trump administration launched Section 232 investigations in April into whether steel and aluminum imports are a threat to national security, and affirmative findings could result in tariffs or quotas on those products. The investigations, led by the Commerce Department, remain under interagency review after Commerce indefinitely postponed its self-imposed deadline of June 30 for concluding the steel investigation (see 1705240034).
The Commerce Department is still “in the process” of looking into self-initiation of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, said Daniel Calhoun, assistant chief counsel for trade enforcement and compliance at Commerce, at an event hosted by Case Western Reserve University law school on Oct. 27. Should the agency “decide to do it,” self-initiation would allow investigations to occur in industries that are not well-placed to ask for duties, Calhoun said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in April said Commerce had “begun the process of self-initiating trade cases” (see 1704140002).