[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.