The Legal and Policy Implications of the US Steel Tariffs on East Asia

• Author: John Riley
• Pages: 193-194

East Asian Observer

193

XI JEAIL 1 (2018)

The Legal and Policy Implications of the

US Steel Tariffs on East Asia

John Riley

∗

Many are crying foul over the Trump Administration’s use of steel and aluminum

tariffs, claiming that imports are not a threat to the US national security. Rather, it

has been argued that the tariffs are a pretext to gain strategic advantage in unrelated

trade negotiations. Members of the Trump administration have hailed subsequent trade

concessions as proof that the tariffs have been successful, which, if proven, could raise a

credible question as to whether the President exceeded the scope of his authority. Domestic

and international challenges have already begun with the US courts being a more effective

forum to the challenge the legality of the tariffs than the WTO.

Keywords

Donald Trump, US Steel, Tariffs, National Security, WTO, Section 232

1. Introduction

Shortly following the 2016 US election, President Trump instructed Secretary of

Commerce Wilbur Ross to initiate a Section 232 investigation under the Trade

Expansion Act of 1962

1

to determine the effects of steel imports on the US national

security.

2

A Section 232 investigation requires the Secretary of Commerce to provide

1 19 U.S.C. § 1862(b)(1)(A).

2 See Remarks by President Trump at Signing of the Memorandum regarding the Investigation Pursuant to Section

232(B) of the Trade Expansion Act (Apr. 20, 2017), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/

remarks-president-trump-signing-memorandum-regarding-investigation-pursuant-section-232b-trade-expansion-act.

The following week, a second investigation was initiated on imports of aluminum. See Presidential Memorandum for

the Secretary of Commerce, The White House (Apr. 27, 2017), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-

actions/presidential-memorandum-secretary-commerce (all last visited on Apr. 21, 2018).

* Assistant Professor of Law at Sogang University School of Law. J.D. (Pittsburgh). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-

7512-9090. The author may be contacted at: johnriley007@gmail.com / Address: Sogang University School of Law, 35

Baekbeom-ro (Sinsu-dong), Mapo-gu, Seoul 04107 Korea.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2018.11.1.10