The United States has begun investigations into imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to examine their impact on America's national security, Commerce Department notices showed Monday, as President Donald Trump is looking to impose new tariffs on those products.
According to the notices posted on the Federal Register, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initiated the probes on April 1 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as South Korea and other US trading partners are keenly watching Trump's tariff policy to minimize its potential ramifications on their economies.
Under Section 232, the president is provided with authority to adjust imports into the US when he determines they threaten to impair national security. Trump has been using tariffs to generate federal government revenue, reduce America's trade deficit, draw in foreign investments and strengthen domestic manufacturing.
In a notice of request for public comment, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security said that the probe targets imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and their derivative products.
Subject to the investigation are semiconductor substrates and bare wafers, legacy chips, leading-edge chips, microelectronics and SME components. Derivative products include downstream products that contain semiconductors, such as those that make up the electronics supply chain, according to the notice.
In another notice, the bureau said that a separate investigation targets the imports of pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients and their derivative products, which include both finished generic and non-generic drug products, medical countermeasures, critical inputs, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials and derivative products of those items.
Trump has repeatedly signaled his intention to roll out tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals as he underscored the need to bring manufacturing back to America at a time of intensifying competition with China.
Previously, Trump invoked Section 232 to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars and auto parts.
The department plans to collect public comments for 21 days since the official posting of the notices.
By law, the commerce secretary has 270 days to present his department's findings and recommendations regarding the imported products to the president.
Within 90 days after getting a report from the secretary, the president is to determine whether he concurs with the department's findings and make a decision. (Yonhap)
