National security

Commerce Dept. reviewing impact of uranium imports on US national security

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Wednesday that his agency would investigate whether uranium imports to the United States pose any threat to national security.

Reviewing whether uranium imports pose such a threat could open the door to the administration imposing new tariffs amid months of backlash over President Trump's trade policies.

In a statement citing idle U.S. mines and massive layoffs in the U.S. uranium mining sector over the past two years, Ross announced that he had accepted a petition from two U.S. energy companies to launch the probe.

“Our production of uranium necessary for military and electric power has dropped from 49 percent of our consumption to five percent,” Ross said. “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.”