Trump Administration Initiates Two New Section 232 Inquiries
The U.S. Department of Commerce has launched two new Section 232 investigations into whether imports into the United States threaten to impair U.S. national security. On May 6, the department announced it had initiated a case into mobile crane imports, citing a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report that found mobile cranes are a critical industry because of their “extensive use in national defense applications, as well as in critical infrastructure sectors.”
On May 4, the department announced an investigation into imports of laminations for stacked cores for incorporation into transformers, stacked and wound cores for incorporation into transformers, electrical transformers, and transformer regulators. The department said these components are a vital part of U.S. energy infrastructure.