US Secretary of Commerce Ross announced on the same day that the US Department of Commerce will launch a "232 investigation" on whether the quantity and status of mobile crane imports damage US national security.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said the investigation was initiated on the basis of a complaint filed by US crane manufacturer Manitowoc in December last year. The company said that the increase in imports of low-cost mobile cranes (especially from Germany, Austria and Japan), as well as intellectual property violations caused by foreign competition, has hurt the domestic mobile crane manufacturing industry in the United States. In view of the wide application of mobile cranes in the defense and critical infrastructure industries, the United States has identified it as a key industry.
In addition, on May 4, the US Secretary of Commerce Ross announced that under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the US Department of Commerce ’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) will use laminations and iron for transformers, power transformers and transformer regulators. Laminations and Wound Cores launched the National Security 232 investigation.
On May 1st, Trump just issued an executive order to protect the bulk-power system. The 232 investigation targeted key components of the transformer.
What is the 232 survey?
According to Section 232 of the US Trade Development Act of 1962, the US government investigates the impact of imported products on US national security. 232 The investigation may be based on the application of interested parties, the application made by the government minister or the person in charge of the agency, or it may be initiated by the Minister of Commerce on his own authority.
Section 232 authorizes the Minister of Commerce to provide the Ministry of Defense with a notice to initiate an investigation, to consult with the Ministry of Defense on methods and technical issues under investigation, and at the same time, may seek opinions and suggestions from other government departments and hold hearings under appropriate circumstances. In order to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to submit information and suggestions.
Survey time node
Since the implementation of the national security investigation on imported steel and aluminum in 2017, the 232 investigation, which has been quiet for 16 years, has been activated again. It has successively launched a "232 investigation" on steel and aluminum products, automobiles and parts, uranium ore, sponge titanium, etc. Widely opposed by the domestic and international community.
On March 8, 2018, US President Trump signed an announcement to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel products and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum products, which came into effect on March 23.
On April 5, 2018, China submitted a consultation request to the United States under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism for the US imports of 232 measures for steel and aluminum products, and officially initiated the dispute settlement process.
In May 2018, US President Trump instructed the US Department of Commerce to launch a "232 investigation" on imported cars and spare parts to determine whether the relevant imports pose a threat to US national security.
On July 19, 2018, the US Department of Commerce held a public hearing on the "232 Investigation" on imported cars and spare parts.
In July 2018, the US Department of Commerce launched a nine-month "232 investigation" on the grounds that a large proportion of uranium products imports threatened US national security.
In July 2019, the President announced that he would not implement adjustment measures on uranium imports under Section 232, but instructed the establishment of a broad inter-departmental working group, the US Nuclear Fuel Working Group, to formulate proposals to resume and expand domestic uranium production;
In February 2020, President Trump decided not to restrict the import of sponge titanium, but to seek negotiations with Japan, an important source country of sponge titanium, to ensure access to sponge titanium used in national defense and key industries in emergency situations.
Many US trade experts believe that the frequent use of the "232 investigation" by the United States as an outdated unilateral trade protection tool seriously disrupts the international trade order and violates the rules of the World Trade Organization.
