What are Section 232 tariffs?
Duties or quotas the President can impose under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 when imports are found to threaten US national security.
Under 19 U.S.C. 1862 the Commerce Department investigates whether imports of a product threaten national security and reports to the President, who can then adjust those imports with tariffs, quotas or other measures.
The best-known actions are the steel and aluminium tariffs that started in March 2018. Their rates, the countries covered and the list of derivative products have been changed several times since, and later investigations covered other products. Like Section 301 duties, Section 232 duties are claimed through Chapter 99 headings on top of the normal rate.
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Related terms
- Section 301 tariffsAdditional US duties imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in response to a foreign country's unfair trade practices; best known for the tariffs on goods from China since 2018.
- Chapter 99 (HTS)The part of the tariff schedule that holds temporary and additional duties, such as Section 301 and Section 232, as their own 9903 headings.