Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, codified at 19 U.S.C. § 1862, lets the President restrict imports of any product the Commerce Department finds threatens national security. It is the legal authority behind the current tariffs on steel and aluminum and behind a growing list of investigations covering everything from semiconductors to pharmaceuticals. The rest of the 1962 statute, including its tariff-cutting negotiating authority, expired decades ago. Section 232 is what survived, and it has become one of the most powerful trade tools an administration can use.
What Section 232 Lets the President Do
The statute does not cap tariff rates or limit the President to a single remedy. It offers a menu. Once the Secretary of Commerce finds that imports of a product threaten national security, the President can impose tariffs at whatever rate the situation calls for, set quotas limiting how much can enter the country, or negotiate agreements with specific countries to restrain their exports.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1862 – Safeguarding National Security
The discretion is broad by design. Because the statute ties import restrictions to the President’s own judgment about national security, the executive branch decides which products to target, how steep to set the tariffs, and how long to keep them in place. Courts have largely stayed out. The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Section 232 steel tariffs in 2023, leaving intact a lower court ruling that the Commerce Department’s underlying recommendations were not even reviewable under federal law. For businesses caught in the crossfire, there is effectively no judicial safety valve once the President acts.
How a Section 232 Investigation Works
Before the President can impose restrictions, the Secretary of Commerce must conduct a formal investigation. An investigation can start in three ways: a request from another government agency, an application from an affected company or industry group, or the Secretary’s own initiative.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1862 – Safeguarding National Security
Commerce then has 270 days to complete its analysis and submit a report to the President. During the investigation, Commerce consults with the Secretary of Defense on the military implications of the product in question and solicits public comments so domestic producers, importers, and other interested parties can submit data and arguments.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1862 – Safeguarding National Security
Once the report reaches the President, a 90-day clock starts. Within that window, the President must decide whether to agree with Commerce’s findings and, if so, what action to take.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1862 – Safeguarding National Security If the President chooses to negotiate voluntary export restraints with a foreign country instead of imposing tariffs directly, the statute gives that negotiation 180 days. If no agreement is reached, the President must take other action to address the threat.
What the Investigation Examines
The statute directs investigators to look at domestic production capacity needed for national defense, the workforce and raw materials that support that production, whether the industry needs new investment, the volume and character of imports, U.S. dependence on foreign sources, and whether declining domestic production has caused serious unemployment or revenue losses.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1862 – Safeguarding National Security
One phrase does a lot of heavy lifting. The statute directs investigators to “recognize the close relation of the economic welfare of the Nation to our national security.” That language has been read broadly enough to justify investigations into products well beyond traditional defense goods. The connection to national security does not need to be direct or immediate. A weakened domestic economy itself qualifies as a security concern under the statute.
Public Comment Windows
Section 232 investigations include a public comment period, though the statute sets no fixed timeline for it. Commerce publishes Federal Register notices requesting written comments within a specified window. For the 2025 semiconductors investigation, comments were due within roughly three weeks of the notice.2Federal Register. Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Semiconductors and Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Businesses that may be affected should monitor the Federal Register and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) website for submission deadlines.
Current Section 232 Tariffs and Active Investigations
The best-known Section 232 actions target steel and aluminum. Tariffs on both products started at 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum in 2018, were raised to a uniform 25 percent in February 2025, and then jumped to 50 percent for most countries effective June 4, 2025.3Federal Register. Adjusting Imports of Aluminum and Steel Into the United States A limited exception holds the rate at 25 percent for United Kingdom imports under a separate economic partnership arrangement. These tariffs apply to the base metals and to a growing category of derivative products, meaning downstream goods made from steel or aluminum.
The scope has expanded well beyond metals. As of late 2025, BIS had active or recently completed investigations covering semiconductors, copper, timber and lumber, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, commercial aircraft and jet engines, unmanned aircraft systems, polysilicon, wind turbines, robotics, and personal protective equipment.4Bureau of Industry and Security. Section 232 Investigations Each could result in new tariffs, quotas, or negotiated restraints. Between 1962 and 2017, only about two dozen Section 232 investigations were conducted, and few led to trade restrictions. The pace since 2018, and especially through 2025, marks a shift from a rarely used Cold War provision to a routine instrument of industrial policy.
The Inclusions Process for Derivative Products
For years, importers hit by Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs could apply for product-specific exclusions through a Commerce Department portal. That exclusion process was rescinded in early 2025.5Bureau of Industry and Security. Section 232 Steel and Aluminum BIS replaced it with the Section 232 Inclusions Process, which runs in the opposite direction. Rather than importers asking to be let out, domestic producers can now request that additional derivative products be brought into the tariff’s scope.
The inclusions process operates on a fixed schedule. BIS opens two-week submission windows three times per year, in January, May, and September. Requests must be emailed to BIS in PDF format, limited to 30 pages, and must include the product’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule designation, data on imports and domestic production, and an explanation of why the derivative article threatens national security or undermines the objectives of the original steel and aluminum investigations.6Federal Register. Adoption and Procedures of the Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariff Inclusions Process
After each submission window closes, BIS posts the non-confidential versions of valid requests on regulations.gov for a 14-day public comment period. The Secretary of Commerce then has 60 days from the date of the original request to issue a determination approving or denying the inclusion, along with a public memorandum explaining the rationale.6Federal Register. Adoption and Procedures of the Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariff Inclusions Process For importers, this means the tariff landscape can expand between presidential proclamations. New derivative products can be swept in through an administrative process without a new investigation.
What Importers Risk for Misclassification
Businesses that misclassify products to avoid Section 232 tariffs face serious civil penalties under 19 U.S.C. § 1592. Importing merchandise through a false statement or omission is a violation whether the misrepresentation was intentional fraud, gross negligence, or simple negligence.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1592 – Penalties for Fraud, Gross Negligence, and Negligence
The penalty tiers escalate sharply based on culpability. Fraud carries a civil penalty up to the full domestic value of the merchandise. Gross negligence carries a penalty up to the lesser of the domestic value or four times the duties the government was deprived of, capped at 40 percent of dutiable value if the violation did not affect duty assessments. Negligence carries a penalty up to the lesser of the domestic value or two times the lost duties, capped at 20 percent of dutiable value if duties were unaffected.
An importer who discovers a violation and discloses it to Customs before a formal investigation begins sees the fraud penalty drop to 100 percent of the lost duties rather than the full domestic value of the goods.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 U.S.C. 1592 – Penalties for Fraud, Gross Negligence, and Negligence Clerical errors and honest mistakes of fact generally do not count as violations unless they form a pattern of negligent conduct. With steel and aluminum duties at 50 percent, the financial incentive to misclassify is high, and so is the enforcement exposure.
A Note on Trade Adjustment Assistance
Readers looking into Section 232 sometimes assume the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program still exists to help workers displaced by trade shifts. It does not. TAA expired on June 30, 2022, and has not been reauthorized. The Department of Labor stopped accepting new petitions and issuing certifications as of that date.8U.S. Department of Labor. Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers Workers already certified and separated from their jobs on or before June 30, 2022, may still receive benefits through their local American Job Centers. A reauthorization bill, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act, was introduced in the House in March 2026 but remains in its earliest legislative stage.9Congress.gov. H.R. 7805 – Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act Anyone losing a job today due to trade shifts has access only to standard state unemployment benefits.
For businesses, the practical response to Section 232’s expansion is to monitor BIS investigation announcements, submit comments during open periods when your products are under review, and audit customs classifications carefully before shipments cross the border. For domestic producers seeking protection on downstream goods, the inclusions process is the current path in.