The Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared a report for members and committees of Congress on May 18, 2021 entitled: Section 232 Investigations: Overview and Issues for Congress. The report focuses on Section 232 actions on steel and aluminum, additional Trump Administrative investigations, Section 232 tariffs and international trade, policy and economic challenges, and issues for Congress.
MMM's Julie Mendoza was cited in the document, as an opponent of the Section 232 investigation on vanadium, pointing out that there is no primary production of vanadium in the United States, and that both of the U.S. petitioners rely on secondary sources of vanadium, including imports of spent catalysts from oil refiners, fly ash from industrial boilers and power plants, and vanadium-bearing steelmaking slag.
Vanadium is a metal used in the production of metal alloys, and is designated a critical mineral by the Department of the Interior. Vanadium is most often used as a strengthening agent for steel and is especially valued for its strength-to-weight ratio. Uses potentially important for national security include the manufacture of components of aircraft, jet engines, ballistic missiles, and batteries for energy storage. Vanadium is also used in the manufacture of steel alloys, which are commonly sold as steel plate, sheet, beams, bars, pipes, and tubes, among others, and can be used as a catalyst for the production of some acids.
Click on the file below to read the full report.
