Inside U.S. Trade: New Democrat Coalition members accuse Trump of breaking law in withholding Section 232 report on autos
New Democrat Coalition lawmakers on Thursday sent President Trump a letter imploring him to abandon any plans to impose tariffs on auto and auto parts imports and to publish the Commerce Department’s report on its Section 232 investigation, saying that withholding it violates two laws.
The Commerce Department last year submitted a Section 232 report to the White House, which has since refused to release it. The report found that auto and parts imports put U.S. national security at risk and recommended remedies that have yet to be disclosed. Trump initiated the investigation in 2018 and has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on automobiles amid trade discussions with Japan and the European Union.
The moderate New Democrats, however, are adamantly opposed to tariffs on cars, as are many lawmakers.
“As you have admitted publicly, there is no national security risk from automobiles and auto part imports. In fact, your abuse of the Section 232 tariff process jeopardizes our national security by alienating our allies and threatening the economic security of American workers,” the NDC’s co-chairs and trade task force members wrote in the letter, which was also sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.?
The lawmakers note that a 2020 appropriations bill, which Trump signed into law, directs Commerce to make the report public. “You are therefore not only in violation of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, but also the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2020,” the letter states. “Your willful disregard for these laws threatens American workers as well as the balance of power that is so essential to our Constitution.”
The Justice Department, however, said last month that Commerce did not have to release the report because doing so could risk “impairing” ongoing talks and interfere with the White House’s decisions on what actions to take.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who last year demanded a copy of the report, told reporters this week he would continue to push for its release.
By: Inside U.S. Trade Staff
Source: Inside U.S. Trade
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