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Trump to Keep Tariff Probes Running Through Government Shutdown

(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration will carry ahead with investigations into certain imports during a possible government shutdown, allowing them to move forward on laying the groundwork for further tariffs.

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The Commerce Department in a shutdown contingency plan released Monday said it will continue “the necessary work to address the effect of imported articles on national security.” The contingency guidelines mark a subtle shift from the previous plan, which said investigations would continue with unexpired funds if Congress failed to approve additional spending by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

By claiming a national security rationale for the investigations, the administration can continue work on probes being conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. That provision allows for the imposition of tariffs on goods deemed critical to national security, an authority that President Donald Trump has turned to extensively as he levies import taxes on a number of economic sectors.

Section 232 requires a formal investigation by the Commerce Department and sets a 270-day deadline for completing those probes. Trump invoked that authority in 2018 to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum (ALI=F), and leaned on those findings to reinstate 50% levies on both metals after returning to office this year. He’s also used that approach to impose levies on cooper, automobiles and auto part imports.

Even more cases are pending, with Commerce examining whether imports of timber and lumber, semiconductors, critical minerals, commercial aircraft and jet engines, unmanned aircraft systems, polysilicon and wind turbines undermine US security.

Section 232 investigations could take on even greater weight if the Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — the statute he has used to impose country-specific tariffs that are being challenged in federal court. Unlike IEEPA, which has historically been used for sanctions and not tariffs, Section 232 has long been upheld as a legitimate national security trade authority.