Trump Administration Investigating Uranium Imports Under National Security Concerns

According to a recent report, the Trump administration may start out an investigation that may result in putting taxes on imported uranium. Recently, Bloomberg reported that the Commerce Department might take the decision to commence an investigation of imported uranium that may result in national security issues.

The department may apply the Trade Expansion Act, Section 232, to investigate the same. Earlier, the Trump administration had used such type of investigation to enforce the tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.

Reportedly, the U.S. uranium miners Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy had requested for the investigation. It proclaimed that the reliance of the U.S. on foreign uranium may cause a risk to the national security.

Both companies have been widely campaigning for a Section 232 investigation since filing a request in January 2018. In The Hill editorial of March 2018, Mark Chalmers, Energy Fuels CEO, and Jeffrey Klenda, Ur-Energy CEO, notified that the U.S. uranium mining industry might disappear without tariffs.

The CEOs marked that the state-owned entities in aggressive governments are targeting the energy industry. They further stated that the industry has to make sure and put efforts for the survival of a domestic nuclear fuel cycle together with uranium mining. If the country allows taking the control of a vital fuel to Russia and its associates then there is a high threat to its security.

On a similar note, it is proclaimed that the Trump administration is using the funds from a health care program that was initiated to deal with AIDS/HIV. This money is used to match the increased costs of caring for the children that were separated from their parents under zero tolerance immigration policy of Trump administration. The agency, called as the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is tasked with taking care of the immigrant minors.