Trump Flexes Security Powers to Keep Global Tariff Goal Alive

The Trump administration is pressing ahead with another tariff barrage that some trade experts say is more legally sound than the president’s country-by-country duties and may end up having an equally broad effect on imports.

The US Commerce Department is set within weeks to announce the outcomes of its investigations into sectors deemed vital to national security, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals. The probes are widely expected to result in levies on a range of foreign-made products in those industries.

President Donald Trump is already using that authority, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, to impose import ...