Steel Imports Investigation on Hold Until After Tax Reform

Falls Church, VA (AIIS) - Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in late September that his agency’s completion of the Section 232 investigation of steel imports will have to wait until after Congress takes up tax reform.

In April, President Donald Trump directed the Commerce Department to initiate the investigation of the impact of steel imports on national security. Although it has nine months to complete the inquiry, the agency had been expected to issue a report in June.

The administration is delaying a decision on tariffs and other steel trade measures because it is wary of alienating senators whose support will be needed to overhaul the tax code, Ross said.

“What we don’t want to do is things that will unnecessarily irritate the Senate because we need the votes there, and as was proven with health care, there’s a very fragile margin,” Ross said on CNBC.

Ross indicated that the administration is not backing away from its support for more protectionist trade policies, saying the move “is a question of timing more than it is direction.”

Courtesy: AIIS