President Donald Trump on April 20 issued a presidential memorandum directing the secretary of commerce to conduct an investigation “to determine the effects on national security of steel imports.” The secretary is to exercise authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to conduct the inquiry and submit a report to the president within nine months. If deemed necessary, the report is to “recommend actions and steps that should be taken to adjust steel imports so that they will not threaten to impair the national security.” American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) Executive Director Richard Chriss said his association is “concerned about the nature and scope of this investigation,” which he said seems to be “a misguided attempt to shield domestic manufacturers from competition.” “At the very least, we hope that the secretary will consider the national security and economic implications of protectionist policies that would limit the availability of steel and drive up its price,” Chriss said. “In addition, he should remember that it is not unlikely that these actions will invite retaliatory measures by other nations against exports from the United States, both steel related and non-steel related, which could have serious economic and security consequences of their own.” Despite these concerns, Chriss said that he will seek to meet with investigators “to provide objective data and information that will counter the misperceptions about steel imports on which this investigation appears to be based.” The directive has received a skeptical response in other outlets, as well. The Washington Post published an editorial opposing Trump’s “bad idea” on April 26, warning that, “For both producers and consumers of American steel, the only victory in a trade war would be of the Pyrrhic variety.” The Economist, meanwhile, published an article on April 27 under the headline, “Protecting American steel from imports makes no sense,” that stated that, if punitive tariffs are imposed on steel imports, “the American economy would be hurt by a rise in the price of an essential material; it would invite retaliation that would cost American jobs, not save them; and the underlying problem – massive global steel overcapacity – would persist.”