The United States imports steel from 90 countries across the globe, including China. Those imports account for 26-percent of all steel used in the United States.
Last week, president Trump ordered his administration to launch an investigation into whether the United States has the capacity to ramp up steel production during a national security emergency. And, if imports of foreign steel threaten national security a move which could give the president authority to place restrictions on steel imports into the United States.
In signing his executive order, president Trump said it was not directed against China, but China accounts for about half the world's steel-producing capacity.
Timothy Webster, Director of Asian Legal Studies & Assistant Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University