Trump to take major action if aluminium and steel investigation results yield national concerns

President Trump said in a Tweet that he was looking forward to the results of investigations into whether aluminium and steel imports were endangering national security. He also assured that the government would "take major action" if necessary.

In April, Trump signed a memoranda officially directing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to undertake the investigations in aluminium and steel. According to the president, maintenance of the United States steel and aluminium industries was important to U.S. security interests because both the materials are used in crucial infrastructure and defence applications.

The memoranda highlighted the fact that markets for both materials are distorted by excess capacity, "much of which results from foreign government subsidies and other unfair practices."

The investigations actually revived a section of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which have been one of the rarely used trade laws till date. Section 232 of the law allows the government to impose different kinds of restrictions on imports for national security concerns.

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If the results support the claims, the U.S. government may levy broad tariffs on the steel and aluminium imports.

This tweet on import came minutes after he had tweeted a separate message quoting the Group of 7 nations' final statement to "push for the removal of all trade-distorting practices."