Donald Trump set the stage for a global fight over steel on Thursday, announcing an investigation into whether cheap imports are a threat to national security.

At an Oval Office ceremony, surrounded by US steel executives, Trump signed an executive order calling for the commerce department to assess effects of steel imports on US defense at a time when he has ordered a military buildup.

“Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries,” Trump said in what he dubbed a “historic day for American steel”.

The president said he had promised to take action on behalf of American workers, which was “one of the primary reasons I’m sitting here today as president”.

“Since the day I took office, I have followed through on that promise big league, beginning with our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” He said he was proud of that withdrawal, which would have been “another Nafta disaster”.

The announcement is the most concrete move the administration has made on trade since Trump was elected after a campaign when he argued cheap imports were “killing” US manufacturers.



Speaking ahead of the signing Wilbur Ross, secretary of commerce, said a 19.6% increase in steel imports in the first quarter has had “a very serious impact on the domestic industry”.



Ross said the US had placed more than 150 antidumping and duty orders on steel products, but they had “not substantially alleviated the negative effects that unfairly traded imports have had on the United States steel industry.

“Repeated efforts by the United States to encourage other countries to reduce and address the underlying causes of excess capacity in the steel market have had little meaningful effect,” he said.

Ross said that left unhindered the present situation could undermine the ability of American steel producers to continue investment, research and development, and reduce or eliminate the jobs needed to “maintain a pool of skilled workers essential for the continued development of advanced steel manufacturing”.

China’s government-owned steel industry represents almost half of the world’s steelmaking. On the campaign trail Trump railed against Chinese steel and said cheap imports were “killing” US manufacturers and that foreign nations were “dumping vast amounts of steel all over the United States, which essentially is killing our steelworkers and steel companies.”

The US steel industry has blamed China for driving down global prices in order to crush competition and as a result causing US job losses. Last year John Ferriola, chairman of US steel company Nucor Corporation and one of Trump’s guests for the signing, told Congress China was “a company disguised as a country engaged in economic warfare”.

The US steel industry is now operating at only 71% of its capacity, with imports accounting for more than a quarter of domestic steel market, Ross said.



While the investigation will appeal to his voters, it is all but certain to worsen trade relations with Beijing and comes just days after Trump backed down from his accusations that China was a “currency manipulator”.

In January China criticised “extreme” tariffs on its exports and said it had already been hit with a record number of retaliatory trade measures from rival economies and trading blocs in 2016. “Trade disputes are becoming increasingly politicised, measures are increasingly extreme and final tariff rates are relatively high,” said ministry spokesman Sun Jiwen.



Trump insisted the decision had “nothing to do with China”. “This has to do with worldwide, what’s happening,” he said. “The dumping problem is a worldwide problem.”

