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).
The European Union has dropped any expectations it had for the U.S. to resume negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and is approaching trade talks with the Trump administration on a sectoral basis instead, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen told reporters in Washington Oct. 17. “We have the understanding that TTIP is not on the agenda of the current [Trump] administration,” he said during an event at the Atlantic Council. “We are not dreaming on anything. So that’s why one of the options is to explore sectoral problems, which we can address by having regulatory cooperation.” The EU hopes for progress in regulatory harmonization across the U.S. and EU automobile, cosmetic and medical device sectors, and to address trade barriers “one by one, on a sectoral basis, if trade negotiations are not possible,” Katainen told reporters after the event. The EU stands ready to restart TTIP talks if there is political will in the U.S., he said.
Defense officials in the Trump administration are treading cautiously in determining whether to take any tariff or quota action against other countries, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Ellen Lord said Oct. 4 during the Bureau of Industry and Security annual export control policy conference. The 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 Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute (CFSBI) on Sept. 13 added its name to the litany of individuals and organizations urging retaliation against dumped steel pursuant to the Trump administration’s ongoing Section 232 “national security” investigation into steel imports. In a letter to President Donald Trump, the organization encouraged “early action” to protect the U.S. steel industry’s ability to supply materials critical to U.S. national defense and infrastructure requirements. “Essentially any product that contains a motor or moving part contains one or more components made from cold finished steel bar,” wrote the organization’s chairman, William Geary. The group’s member companies produce materials vital to a “wide range” of defense applications, including attack helicopters, armored vehicles, guns, smart bombs, aircraft and ammunition, as well as materials for critical infrastructure applications including automobiles, bridge parts, oil and gas equipment, and wind turbines, CFSBI said.