The United States Department of Commerce will launch an investigation into imports of uranium, citing the same concerns about national security that it did before implementing tariffs on steel and aluminum.
In a release Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the investigation will cover all aspects of the industry, from mining through enrichment for electricity generation, its role in military defence, and other industrial uses.
Thiryy years ago, the United States produced almost half of the uranium it consumes, but that ratio has dropped to just five per cent today, Ross said in a release.
“The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security will conduct a thorough, fair, and transparent review to determine whether uranium imports threaten to impair national security,” Ross said.
The department launched a similar investigation into foreign-made steel and aluminum earlier this year. Within weeks, the U.S. government had put a tariff on imported metals, including from Canada.
That prompted a wave of retaliatory tariffs from other countries on American-made products.
Canada is one of the world’s leading producers of uranium, with more than 9,000 tonnes mined per year according to government figures. About 85 per cent of the uranium that Canada produces gets exported, primarily to the U.S., Europe and Asia.