The Commerce Department has submitted its Section 232 report on the national security implications of steel imports to the president, but steel industry sources and other observers are still wondering whether the administration will take action immediately or wait up to three months, as the law allows.
[Isabelle Hoagland and Jenny Leonard | January 12, 2018 | Inside US Trade]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the report’s submission late on Jan. 11. The president now has 90 days to determine whether he agrees with the Commerce Department’s findings and to decide whether to use his “statutory authority to adjust imports,” according to the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Commerce, in its Jan. 11 announcement, said that after the president announces his decision on what, if any, action to take, the department “will publish a summary of the report in the Federal Register and make the report available to the public after removing any business confidential or classified material.”
Industry sources said before the steel report’s release that while it and the aluminum report were largely ready to go, the key question remaining was how much time the administration would let pass until action on the Commerce Department’s findings was taken.
