The seven classes include wire rod; stainless steel wire; hot-rolled sheet; heavy plate; energy tubular; pre-painted steel; and concrete reinforcing bar.

These “safeguard measures” were reportedly prompted by complaints from Canada’s steel industry that U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum have resulted in shipments of cheap steel to be diverted to Canada from the U.S., and follows the country’s countermeasures imposed on July 1^st applying tariffs on over $12 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to those tariffs.

Notably, the safeguards do not apply to goods originating in and imported from the U.S., Chile and Israel. However imports of energy tubular and wire rod from Mexico “are within the scope of the Tribunal’s inquiry.”

These safeguard measures are provisional, remaining in place for 200 days pending the safeguards inquiry conducted by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT). By April 2019, the CITT must provide recommendations on whether the safeguard should be continued for the longer term. While parties can participate in the CITT inquiry, they are “directed not to make submissions to the Tribunal on classes of goods or to request exclusions from safeguard measures for specific products, producers, exporters, regions, etc., as these matters are outside the scope of the inquiry.”

Neither the White House nor the Commerce Department has announced the contents of the report and whether the Commerce Department concluded that steel imports (or a particular subset of steel imports) pose a threat to national security. The Commerce Department issued a press release stating that the Secretary reported the Department's findings to the President. After the President has announced a decision, the Department intends to publish the public findings of the investigation.