Ross defends 232 auto probe: 'Without economic security you can't have military security'

/ May 24, 2018 at 5:54 PM

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday defended a new Section 232 probe into auto imports by drawing direct ties between the automotive industry and what he called "military security," Inside U.S. Trade reports.

Ross initiated the investigation on Wednesday after being directed to consider it by the president.

On CNBC Thursday morning, Ross noted that Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 defines national security broadly "to include the impact on employment, to include a very big variety of things" that are not "necessarily" tied to military security.

However, he said, "economic security is military security, and without economic security you can't have military security."

The goal, Ross said, is to investigate the effect that the "abuse of trade tactics in cars" abroad has on national security, and whether such tactics -- which he said included high tariffs as well as non-tariff barriers -- "justify doing something."

The commerce secretary also reiterated complaints about World Trade Organization rules, saying they kept the U.S. from simply raising auto tariffs.

Those rules, he said, are among "the inherent unfairnesses to which prior administrations in the United States agreed," and that "stupidity" makes it difficult to "get back to a reciprocal arrangement" in areas such as auto tariffs.

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