    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 133, 116th Congress, 1st Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Proclamation 9888 of May 17, 2019

    Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts Into the United
    States

    By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

    1. On February 17, 2019, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary)
    transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of
    imports of passenger vehicles (sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover
    utility vehicles, minivans, and cargo vans) and light trucks
    (collectively ``automobiles'') and certain automobile parts (engines and
    engine parts, transmissions and powertrain parts, and electrical
    components) on the national security of the United States under section
    232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862).
    2. The report found that automotive research and development (R&D) is
    critical to national security. The rapid application of commercial
    breakthroughs in automobile technology is necessary for the United
    States to retain competitive military advantage and meet new defense
    requirements. Important innovations are occurring in the areas of engine
    and powertrain technology, electrification, lightweighting, advanced
    connectivity, and autonomous driving. The United States defense
    industrial base depends on the American-owned automotive sector for the
    development of technologies that are essential to maintaining our
    military superiority.
    3. Thus, the Secretary found that American-owned automotive R&D and
    manufacturing are vital to national security. Yet, increases in imports
    of automobiles and automobile parts, combined with other circumstances,
    have over the past three decades given foreign-owned producers a
    competitive advantage over American-owned producers.
    4. American-owned producers' share of the domestic automobile market has
    contracted sharply, declining from 67 percent (10.5 million units
    produced and sold in the United States) in 1985 to 22 percent (3.7
    million units produced and sold in the United States) in 2017. During
    the same time period, the volume of imports nearly doubled, from 4.6
    million units to 8.3 million units. In 2017, the United States imported
    over 191 billion dollars' worth of automobiles.
    5. Furthermore, one circumstance exacerbating the effects of such
    imports is that protected foreign markets, like those in the European
    Union and Japan, impose significant barriers to automotive imports from
    the United States, severely disadvantaging American-owned producers and
    preventing them from developing alternative sources of revenue for R&D
    in the face of declining domestic sales. American-owned producers' share
    of the global automobile market fell from 36 percent in 1995 to just 12
    percent in 2017, reducing American-owned producers' ability to fund
    necessary R&D.
    6. Because ``[d]efense purchases alone are not sufficient to support . .
    . R&D in key automotive technologies,'' the Secretary found that
    ``American-owned automobile and automobile parts manufacturers must have
    a robust presence in the U.S. commercial market'' and that American
    innovation capacity ``is now at serious risk as imports continue to
    displace American-owned production.'' Sales revenue enables

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    R&D expenditures that are necessary for long-term automotive
    technological superiority, and automotive technological superiority is
    essential for the national defense. The lag in R&D expenditures by
    American-owned producers is weakening innovation and, accordingly,
    threatening to impair our national security.
    7. In light of all of these factors, domestic conditions of competition
    must be improved by reducing imports. American-owned producers must be
    able to increase R&D expenditures to ensure technological leadership
    that can meet national defense requirements.
    8. The Secretary found and advised me of his opinion that automobiles
    and certain automobile parts are being imported into the United States
    in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair
    the national security of the United States. The Secretary found that
    these imports are ``weakening our internal economy'' and that ``[t]he
    contraction of the American-owned automotive industry, if continued,
    will significantly impede the United States' ability to develop
    technologically advanced products that are essential to our ability to
    maintain technological superiority to meet defense requirements and cost
    effective global power projection.''
    9. The Secretary therefore concluded that the present quantities and
    circumstances of automobile and certain automobile parts imports
    threaten to impair the national security as defined in section 232 of
    the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
    10. In reaching this conclusion, the Secretary considered the extent to
    which import penetration has displaced American-owned production, the
    close relationship between economic welfare and national security, see
    19 U.S.C. 1862(d), the expected effect of the recently negotiated United
    States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and what would happen should the
    United States experience another economic downturn comparable to the
    2009 recession.
    11. In light of the report's findings, the Secretary recommended actions
    to adjust automotive imports so that they will not threaten to impair
    the national security. One recommendation was to pursue negotiations to
    obtain agreements that address the threatened impairment of national
    security. In the Secretary's judgment, successful negotiations could
    allow American-owned automobile producers to achieve long-term economic
    viability and increase R&D spending to develop cutting-edge technologies
    that are critical to the defense industry.
    12. I concur in the Secretary's finding that automobiles and certain
    automobile parts are being imported into the United States in such
    quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the
    national security of the United States, and I have considered his
    recommendations.
    13. I have also considered the renegotiated United States-Korea
    Agreement and the recently signed USMCA, which, when implemented, could
    help to address the threatened impairment of national security found by
    the Secretary.
    14. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended,
    authorizes the President to take action to adjust the imports of an
    article and its derivatives that are being imported into the United
    States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to
    impair the national security. If that action is the negotiation of an
    agreement

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    contemplated in 19 U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A)(i), and such an agreement is not
    entered into within 180 days of the proclamation or is not being carried
    out or is ineffective, then the statute authorizes the President to take
    other actions he deems necessary to adjust imports and eliminate the
    threat that the imported article poses to national security. See 19
    U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A).
    15. I have decided to direct the United States Trade Representative
    (Trade Representative) to pursue negotiation of agreements contemplated
    in 19 U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A)(i) to address the threatened impairment of
    the national security with respect to imported automobiles and certain
    automobile parts from the European Union, Japan, and any other country
    the Trade Representative deems appropriate, and to update me on the
    progress of such negotiations within 180 days. Under current
    circumstances, this action is necessary and appropriate to remove the
    threatened impairment of the national security.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
    America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
    of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3,
    United States Code, and section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962,
    as amended, do hereby proclaim as follows:
    (1) The Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary,
    the Secretary of the Treasury, and any other senior executive branch
    officials the Trade Representative deems appropriate, shall pursue
    negotiation of agreements contemplated in 19 U.S.C. 1862(c)(3)(A)(i) to
    address the threatened impairment of the national security with respect
    to imported automobiles and certain automobile parts from the European
    Union, Japan, and any other country the Trade Representative deems
    appropriate.
    (2) Within 180 days of the date of this proclamation, the Trade
    Representative shall update me on the outcome of the negotiations
    directed under clause (1) of this proclamation.
    (3) The Secretary shall continue to monitor imports of automobiles
    and certain automobile parts and shall, from time to time, in
    consultation with any senior executive branch officials the Secretary
    deems appropriate, review the status of such imports with respect to the
    national security. The Secretary shall inform the President of any
    circumstances that in the Secretary's opinion might indicate the need
    for further action by the President under section 232 of the Trade
    Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
    (4) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders
    that is inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is
    superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of
    May, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
    third.
    DONALD J. TRUMP