The 2010 Dodd-Frank law explicitly gives the President of the United States authority to order the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to temporarily suspend or revise the Conflict Minerals rule included in the Dodd-Frank banking reform law for two years if it is “in the national security interest of the U.S.”
Last week we reported that the Trump administration was working on a draft executive order to, indeed, suspend the rule which requires reporting of supply chains to enforce a ban on tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s backed by human-rights groups but many businesses say the rule, as is, requires a swath of industries to investigate whether their products contain the metals far down their supply chains. Compliance has already been hit or miss for the rule. Last year, 65% of companies said they still could not make determinations about their full supply chains.
Reuters reported that the leaked draft memo, which its reporters saw, said that the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury were tasked with proposing a plan for addressing human rights violations and the funding of armed groups in the Congo and were also required toreport back within 180 days.
The memo also lays out a justification for suspending the rule, saying that while it has helped discourage some American companies from purchasing materials in the region, it has also led to “some job loss.”
Of course, this is only a draft and it could significantly change before any actual executive order is drafted. The one thing that is sure, however, is that thanks to the wording of the Dodd-Frank law, President Donal Trump (R.-N.Y) does, indeed, have the power to suspend the rule for up to two years.