CIT Denies Broad Challenge to Section 232 Steel Tariffs

The Court of International Trade on Feb. 4 rejected a broad challenge to Section 232 tariffs on steel. Universal Steel Products, joined by several other importers, had challenged the Commerce Department report upon which all Section 232 steel tariffs were based, as well as President Donald Trump’s failure to set an expiration date for the tariff action, among other things. But the trade court found in favor of the government, holding the report was not a final action and could not be challenged, and that the president’s edict that the tariffs remain in effect so long as national security is threatened satisfied Section 232’s requirement that he set a “duration” for the tariffs.