Today, no trade law may be a bigger threat to U.S. workers and consumers than section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. According to a new study, section 232 casts aside the principles of limited government and the constitutional role of Congress in favor of one man – the president – designating any good he desires a national security threat. The issues, the study notes, go beyond one individual, but Donald Trump's use of the law shows that without a new ruling by the courts or changes in the law by Congress, Americans, their money and their jobs will remain at the mercy of whoever is president.
"The broad definition of national security as contemplated by the statute affords the president unlimited autonomy in determining whether or not the target product of a section 232 investigation threatens to impair national security. Section 232 allows the president to take virtually any action he chooses to adjust imports of the target product if imports of that product are found to be a threat to national security," according to a new analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy.
Read more as International Trade group's Don Cameron and Emma Peterson provide detailed views to Forbes about the current administration's interpretation of Section 232 tariffs and their perceived threat to national security.
