President Trump’s desire that pipelines in the U.S. buy American iron and steel products may run into international trade law violations, and have a yet-unpredictable impact on costs and prices for manufacturers and pipeline companies, experts and economists reckon. Last month, President Trump issued a memorandum on the construction of American pipelines, asking the Secretary of Commerce to prepare within 180 days a plan “under which all new pipelines, as well as retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipelines, inside the borders of the United States, including portions of pipelines, use materials and equipment produced in the United States, to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law”. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) praised President Trump’s executive actions to expedite Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines as “ensuring key markets for domestic steel and pipe products”. However, one concern over the ‘buy American’ provisions is that […]