How Trump’s ‘Hammer’ on Chinese Steel Could Hit the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering turning to a Cold War-era law to stem the flow of steel imports, part of a campaign pledge to save American industrial jobs. He could wind up deploying a weapon known as the "big sledgehammer," a little-used part of 1962 trade legislation, arguing that cheap imports put national security at risk by weakening the domestic steel industry. Such heavy tools can prompt a furious response from other countries, triggering complaints to the World Trade Organization.

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows the president to adjust imports unilaterally -- without a vote by Congress -- should the Department of Commerce find evidence of a national-security threat from foreign shipments. The ongoing review by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a former steel tycoon, began in April and has 270 days to finish. A self-imposed deadline of the end of June was missed.