EnPresident Donald Trump may sign an Executive Order shortly ordering the Commerce Department to investigate whether all steel imports should be banned for national security reasons, Politico reports. The implementation of a section 232 order under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act would require a report from Commerce with 270 days and Presidential action 90 days after that. It seems unlikely, however, that the full timescales will be utilized given frustrations expressed by the President over the length of U.S. trade policy timetables – including over NAFTA as outlined in Panjiva research of April 19.
U.S. trade policy has been successful in discouraging steel exports from other countries until recently. Imports in the 12 months to February 28 were 25.2% lower than five years previously, mostly due to lower shipments from China (down 60.6%), Brazil (41.9% down) and Mexico/Canada (27.4%), Panjiva data shows. There are also several ongoing trade cases including steel wire rod, cut-to-length plate, construction rebar and stainless steel strip. Despite that U.S. steel imports increased 19.7% on a year earlier in the three months to February 28 as a result of a resurgence in shipments from Brazil and Russia.
Source: Panjiva
Update (4/20) – Corrected for link to section 232 order reference
