The Commerce Department is urging President Trump to consider hefty tariffs and quotas to limit the import of steel and aluminum, after concluding that the rising flow of those foreign-made products constitutes a threat to America's national security.
The recommendations were contained in a report released Friday by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose agency tapped a rarely used provision of U.S. trade law in investigating whether steel and aluminum imports could pose harm to the country's defense or security interests.
Trump has promised to take more aggressive trade actions to protect American manufacturers, and the findings by Commerce give the president wide discretion to curb imports, although he could decide not to take any action at all. Trump has until mid-April to issue his decision.
Domestic steel and aluminum manufacturers, along with lawmakers from big steel-producing states, have been pressing Trump to apply stiff measures against foreign producers, particularly targeting China.
The Commerce Department's recommendations to Trump listed three options for steel: a 24% tariff on all imports from all countries; a targeted tariff of at least 53% on imports from a dozen trading partners, plus quotas on steel shipments from other nations; or a global quota that equals 63% of each country's steel exports to the U.S. in 2017.
Ross also recommended three options on aluminum tariffs and quotas, although they were less restrictive.
During a news briefing Friday, Ross would not say which of these options he preferred, noting that Trump would be the "sole judge" of that.
"Now that Secretary Ross' report has been released, the president must act urgently to stop trade cheats from undermining our steel companies and steelworkers," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who, with 18 other members of Congress, met with Trump earlier this week to discuss the steel and aluminum cases.
Source :- latimes
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