Federal Spotlight: Commerce Department Launches Investigation into Imports of Vehicles

President Trump recently ordered Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to launch an investigation into the import of automobiles and auto parts based on national security concerns. The authority is granted to the Commerce Department to launch these kinds of investigations via section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. All of this comes as the U.S., Mexico and Canada continue to work on renegotiating NAFTA. Many in the business community fear this could hamper those talks and potentially lead to retaliation from other countries if the U.S. was to impose tariffs on auto imports.