Vanadium Exporter Lauds Section 232 Outcome

After the Commerce Department released the outstanding Section 232 reports (see 2107290039), the lawyers for a vanadium exporter cheered the outcome. The Trump administration initiated a national security investigation into vanadium imports, but the Biden administration made the decision that vanadium imports do not threaten national security.

Julie Mendoza, a partner with Morris, Manning & Martin, represented Bushveld Minerals, a major South African producer of vanadium, and she said she was thrilled that the case did not conclude that the imports are damaging to the U.S. “However, there have been four other determinations in Section 232 investigations released over the past few weeks, all of which were affirmative determinations that national security was threatened, which is not surprising because Trump had agreed to trade restrictions in those cases before he left office. Commerce just never released the reports. Biden is clearly saying the decision-making has to be transparent in his administration,” Mendoza said. “We now have a good look at how Biden is reacting to these last remaining measures imposed by the Trump administration.”

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., a fierce critic of the Section 232 legislation and the previous administration's use of it, also welcomed the releases. "Congress requires consultation and reporting for all trade powers delegated to the executive branch. I thank Secretary Raimondo and President Biden for making good on their commitment to publish these reports, something the previous administration repeatedly refused to do, and hope compliance with the law will become routine as opposed to something to celebrate,” he said July 29.