Commerce launches Section 232 investigation
The Commerce Department will investigate whether steel imports from foreign countries, including China, should be blocked due to national security concerns. A Section 232(b) investigation was launched prior to President Trump's meeting with steel industry CEOs and United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard Thursday.
Said Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul:
"The Alliance for American Manufacturing strongly supports initiating a Section 232 trade action that will safeguard our domestic steel industry’s ability to protect our national security. We commend the administration for placing America’s national and economic security interests first in this instance.
"China’s overcapacity in a variety of industrial sectors, coupled with its persistent unfair trade practices, put American jobs and industry at risk. That’s what makes this Section 232 investigation so important: It’s an underutilized tool that should be deployed in defense of the domestic steel industry and its workers.
"America’s steelmakers are vital to our national security, providing essentials ranging from the armor plate on our tanks and specialty metals in our high-tech aircraft, to the hulls of our battleships and everything in between. China’s massively subsidized and grossly over-scaled steel industry is an existential threat to our own domestic makers. This action sends a strong signal to Beijing that our government will pursue sensible trade actions that will push back against persistent unfair trade practices.”
China’s steel overcapacity has led to tens of thousands of U.S. layoffs and dozens of steel facility closures nationwide. That has serious ramifications for America’s national security according to Steel Import Surge Threatens U.S. National Security, a report released by AAM. To learn more, visit AmericanManufacturing.org.
Additional resources: Trump Might Launch a Section 232 Investigation into Steel Imports. Here’s What It Means., How China is Driving a Global Steel Crisis, Overcapacity in Steel: China's Role in a Global Challenge