The Trump administration is reportedly nearing a move that could result in tariffs on uranium import

[jpak]

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-uranium-investigation-tariff-trade-2018-7

The Trump administration is about to set off an investigation that could result in tariffs on imported uranium, according to a new report.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the Commerce Department is nearing a decision to launch an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act into the national security risks of imported uranium. That type of investigation was also the method the Trump administration used to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

US uranium miners Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy requested the investigation, saying the US's reliance on foreign uranium poses a threat to national security. Paul Goranson, COO at Energy Fuels, told Bloomberg that the reliance on uranium from state-owned companies that "obviously have different global strategic objectives than we do" should prompt action.

Both companies have been publicly agitating for a Section 232 investigation since filing a request in January. In a March editorial for The Hill, Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers and Ur-Energy CEO Jeffrey Klenda warned that without trade relief, the US uranium mining industry could disappear.

<more>

[exboyfil]

1. How long does it take to gear up to mine our own uranium?

it seems buying others uranium is actually a strategically better decision so long as we can get to our own (and realistically Canadas) pretty quickly in the event of a shut down.

[Afromania]

2. Why? so they can start trying to dig that shit out in the Grand Canyon and national parks instead?

That economic anxiety is going to turn into pollution panic. Get ready for Mainstreet to become a superfund site in the very near future

[haele]

3. Yup, uranium mining companies have been drooling over the Grand Canyon for nearly a century.

It's easier to get the uranium out there than in other sites across the country - and hey, the government leases are significantly cheaper than purchasing the land itself or leasing from a private owner.

Of course, extracting the uranium would totally pollute the river going through it, as well as most of the tourist area for centuries afterwards - but hey, money needs to be made, and the Federal Government will just superfund it - and then there'll be a need for environmental clean up corporations that the mining company can create out of the "goodness of their hearts" to employ the workers and engineers of the played-out mine with a cost-plus contract the taxpayers will foot. Free money all around.

Miner's greed was the primary of the reasons the Grand Canyon was made a protected National Monument early on.

Haele