Study On National Security System In American Foreign Trade

In 2017,the US Department of Commerce conducted a national security survey on imported steel products(hereinafter referred to as the"232 Survey")in accordance with Article 232 of the Trade Extension Act of 1962,"Protecting National Security".On January 17,2018,the US Department of Commerce issued the "Report on the Impact of Imported Steel National Security".The report concluded that the current import volume and situation of steel products are "weakening the domestic economy of the United States" and have already threatened US national security.On March 8,2018,the President of the United States signed an order that the imported steel products threatened the national security of the United States and announced an additional import tariff of 25%on imported steel products,which was implemented on March 25.In the face of the US 232 investigation,China adopted the "WTO litigation+tariff retaliation" model to deal with it.On April 5,2018,China took the lead in bringing the US steel and aluminum products 232 measures to the WTO.With the expiration of the tariff exemption period,the EU,Canada and Mexico have asked for WTO consultations with the United States.On April 2,China began to suspend tariff reduction obligations on US$2.4 billion worth of US exports to China,and imposed tariffs to rebalance the losses caused by US 232 measures.This paper takes the US "National Security System" as the main research object.Through the US National Security Survey on Imported Steel Products in March 2018,it analyzes the legislative historical background of the US national security provisions in foreign trade and introduces the current US foreign trade.The national security system in China has combed the practice of applying the national security system in foreign trade,focusing on the application of the US national security investigation based on the 232 clause on imported steel products.From the standpoint of China,from International Economic Law,the United States conducts the legality of the 232 investigation.It compares the two interpretative clauses selected by the United States and the United States under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism for the national security investigation,and clarifies China’s attitude toward the US national security investigation.In this context,the necessity and possibility of restricting or prohibiting import and export trade in China’s foreign trade law based on national security provisions.The main content of this paper can be divided into the following four parts in addition to the introduction and conclusion:In first part,this paper summarizes the legislative background and institutional changes of the US national security system.In second part,this paper explains and analyzes the elements of the US national security system in foreign trade,including the physical elements and procedural elements.The third part,this paper discusses and summarizes the practice of applying the national security system in the United States,including historical applicable practices,and focuses on the analysis of the US national security survey of imported steel products in March 2018,clarifies that the 232 investigation’s detailed process from filing,implementation to drawing conclusions and recommendations.In fourth part,this paper comments on the US national security system,discusses whether the US applicable national security system complies with Article 21 of the GATT,discusses the legitimacy of China’s use of safeguards agreements when filing a dispute settlement request with the WTO,and clarifies the position and attitude of the Chinese government on the US 232 investigation.According to the theoretical and empirical analysis,this paper draws the following conclusions:In general,the Chinese government’s response to this trade dispute law is well-founded and well-founded,not only making full use of unilateral trade law enforcement measures in line with WTO rules,but also for the United States.232 investigations were deterred;the US 232 measures were also successfully identified as safeguards,thus well acknowledging the authorization in the safeguards agreement to directly suspend concessional obligations.However,the interpretation of Article 21 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,"Security Exception Clauses",is uncertain,which brings uncertainty to China’s disputes over the "232 investigations" of the US through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.The Foreign Trade Law’s legislative technology for "national security" limits China’s use of GATT Article 21 "Security Exceptions" to restrict imports.Therefore,while using the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to resolve Sino-US trade frictions,China should also actively reflect on China’s relevant legislation and improve the legislative techniques of Articles 16 and 17 of the Foreign Trade Law.