#section 232

Trump tariff strategy is bending under legal pressure, but don’t expect clarity soon. The Supreme Court will hear challenges in November, and the White House is already shifting tactics to keep duties in place even if some legal paths fail. That pivot is reshaping trade policy and rattling companies that rely on steady rules for global supply chains. (Reuters) Why legal fights have amplified the…

Meta Description: Explore Trump’s tariff use of Section 232 and 301 tariffs, their legal foundation, global impact, and whether they served national interests or risked economic fallout. When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, he inherited a global trade system that had largely favored tariff reduction and multilateral cooperation. But by the end of his first term, the U.S. was…

Vicki Needham at The Hill: 

The Commerce Department is recommending hefty tariffs or quotas severely restricting imported steel and aluminum, which if taken would almost certainly lead to an international trade war.  

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters on Friday that his department's investigations found that imported steel is a threat to national security and recommended at least a 24 percent tariff on all steel imports from around the world under a law called Section 232.  

The report highlights a number of options for President Trump, who could also decide to not take any action.

If he takes steps to severely restrict imports, it would almost certainly lead to retaliation against U.S. exports around the world, as well as litigation within the World Trade Organization.

It would be the biggest example yet of the muscular actions Trump promised during his presidential campaign to take on behalf of U.S. workers and manufacturers. But it would lead to certain criticism that Trump risks putting the U.S. economy's growth at risk. 

The president is required to make a decision on the steel recommendations by April 11 and on the aluminum recommendations by April 19. 

The report from the Commerce Department includes the 24 percent tariff on all steel imports as one of three options for President Trump. 

Under the section option, Trump could levy a 53 percent tariff on all steel imports from 12 countries: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. This option could also include a quota limiting steel imports from all other countries that would be equal to 100 percent of their 2017 exports to the United States.  The third option outlined in the report includes no tariffs, but would impose a quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63 percent of each country’s 2017 imports into the United States. On aluminum, the report recommends a tariff of at least 7.7 percent on all aluminum exports from all countries.  

As an option, it says the administration could impose a tariff of 23.6 percent on all products from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. All the other countries would be subject to quotas equal to 100 percent of their 2017 exports to the United States.