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.
Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) became the latest voices to push the Trump administration to complete its Section 232 investigation on steel imports as quickly as possible, urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a Sept. 15 letter to “prevent further damage to the U.S. steel sector.” Ross originally said his department planned to finish the probe by June 30. By law, Section 232 investigations must conclude within 270 days, meaning the current one must be complete by Jan. 14, 2018. The Commerce Department began the investigation in April (see 1704200029). Steel imports rose 25 percent year-over-year during the first six months of 2017, as foreign producers are seeking to export steel to the U.S. before the Trump administration can impose any remedy, the senators said. Legally, remedies could include tariffs or quotas.
The American Line Pipe Producers Association (ALPPA) asked the Trump administration to act quickly in slapping tariffs on imports pursuant to its ongoing Section 232 investigation on steel. In a Sept. 7 letter to President Donald Trump, ALPPA said global steel overcapacity, largely created by China, has spurred a surge of U.S. steel imports in recent years, despite G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development discussions. “There is an urgent need for immediate Section 232 relief for the domestic large diameter line pipe industry,” the letter says. “Chinese producers are increasingly shipping greater volumes of dumped and subsidized steel to other countries for production of large diameter line pipe that can then be shipped to the U.S. market at lesser duty rates or, in many cases, duty free.”