    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 16, 1995]
    [Pages 215-216]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Petroleum Imports and Energy Security
    February 16, 1995

        I am today concurring with the Department of Commerce's finding that
    the Nation's growing reliance on imports of crude oil and refined
    petroleum products threaten the Nation's security because they increase
    U.S. vulnerability to oil supply interruptions. I also concur with the
    Department's recommendation that the administration continue its present
    efforts to improve U.S. energy security, rather than to adopt a specific
    import adjustment mechanism.
        This action responds to a petition under Section 232 of the Trade
    Expansion Act of 1962, which was filed by the Independent Petroleum
    Association of America and others on March 11, 1994. The act gives the
    President the authority to adjust imports if they are determined to pose
    a threat to national security. The petitioners sought such action,
    claiming that U.S. dependence on oil imports had grown since the
    Commerce Department last studied the issue in response to a similar,
    1988 petition.
        In conducting its study, the Department led an interagency working
    group that included the Departments of Energy, Interior, Defense, Labor,
    State, and Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of
    Economic Advisers, and the U.S. Trade Representative. The Commerce
    Department also held public

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    hearings and invited public comment. Following White House receipt of
    the Commerce Department's report, the National Economic Council
    coordinated additional interagency review.
        As in the case of its earlier study, the Commerce Department found
    that the potential costs to the national security of an oil import
    adjustment, such as an import tariff, outweigh the potential benefits.
    Instead, the Department recommended that the administration continue its
    current policies, which are aimed at increasing the Nation's energy
    security through a series of energy supply enhancement and conservation
    and efficiency measures designed to limit the Nation's dependence on
    imports. Those measures include:
        --Increased investment in energy efficiency.
        --Increased investment in alternative fuels.
        --Increased Government investment in technology, to lower costs and
            improve production of gas and oil and other energy sources.
        --Expanded utilization of natural gas.
        --Increased Government investment in renewable energy sources.
        --Increased Government regulatory efficiency.
        --Increased emphasis on free trade and U.S. exports.
        --Maintenance of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
        --Coordination of emergency cooperation measures.
        Finally, led by the Department of Energy and the National Economic
    Council, the administration will continue its efforts to develop
    additional cost-effective policies to enhance domestic energy production
    and to revitalize the U.S. petroleum industry.