Domestic manufacturers of steel mill and aluminum products as well as U.S. importers are keeping a close watch over President Trump’s soon expected decision regarding two Department of Commerce Section 232 investigations involving the impact of such imported products on U.S. national security. President Trump has been very outspoken about his desire to bring manufacturing back to America and beginning in April last year asked the DOC to initiate investigations into the “distorted” amounts of steel and aluminum imported into the United States. The issue of foreign countries dumping their products into the U.S. markets has been with us for a generation and these investigations are a further extension of that.The likely results of these investigations is that the DOC could attempt to remedy the situation by imposing quantity restrictions (quotas) on the amounts of certain items that can be imported from foreign countries, and/or impose additional duties, etc. Importers of these products could be subject to these quotas and/or additional duties.The President is expected to review the DOC findings and make any decisions by April of this year. There are many things to consider when making these types of decisions, so right now, the trade community is in a waiting mode.If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact your account team.