The Glossary
Section 232
The national-security statute behind the 2018 global steel and aluminum tariffs.
Definition
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows the president to restrict imports that threaten national security, following a Commerce Department investigation. It produced the March 2018 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs — global in reach, touching China alongside allies. The statute has since been invoked for derivatives, and proposed for everything from chips to shipping, making it the broadest tariff authority outside Section 301 and IEEPA.
Why it matters
232 blurs the line between trade policy and security policy; its expansive use normalizes treating allies' exports as security threats — one reason trade lawyers watch it as closely as the China file.