Report on Section 232 Investigation of Steel Imports Submitted to Trump

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Commerce Department submitted its report on the Section 232 investigation of steel imports to President Donald Trump in January, but the findings and recommendations have not been made public yet.

Trump on April 20 issued a presidential memorandum directing the secretary of commerce to conduct the investigation “to determine the effects on national security of steel imports.” While it had been thought that the inquiry would be completed by June, the agency did not deliver its report to the White House until Jan. 11.

Trump has 90 days from the time he received the report to decide what, if any action, to take. (The report will also be made public after 90 days.) Trump has previously indicated that he would like to impose tariffs or quotas on imported steel.

CNBC reported that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross presented Trump with “a wide range of options” in the report, including imposing higher tariffs and targeting “bad actors” who are involved in sending steel to the United States.

AIIS has been working aggressively since April to educate regulators, lawmakers, the press and the public about the negative consequences that could result from imposing new limits on the free and responsible trade of steel. In a letter to the editor published in the Feb. 1 American Metal Market, AIIS Executive Director Richard Chriss warned of the “pernicious effects” that imposing restrictions on steel imports “would have on the nation’s defense readiness and economic well being, as well as global stability and prosperity.”

Courtesy: AIIS