“We cannot be without a steel industry, we can’t be without an aluminum industry, and so what we’re talking about is tariffs and/or quotas,” Trump said during the meeting, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The administration is weighing whether to impose restrictions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The law allows the president to restrict imports on national security concerns. 

Trump has until mid-April to make a decision. 

According to The Hill newspaper, several lawmakers in the room cautioned Trump that imposing new tariffs could hold negative consequences for the broader economy. 

Among them was Montana Republican Sen. Roy Blunt. 

“We need to be careful here that we don’t start a reciprocal battle on tariffs,” Blunt said.   

“We make aluminum and we make steel in Missouri, but we buy a lot of aluminum and we buy a lot of steel as well," he said, according to The Hill. 

Still, others signaled support for restrictions, including U.S Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Mike Bost, R-Ill., co-chairmen of the Congressional Steel Caucus, according to the Bloomberg news service.  

Bloomberg also reported that Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican and a former U.S. Trade Representative, told Trump to take a “scalpel” approach to steel imports and impose restrictions on certain products, such as electrical steel. 

Meanwhile, China is appealing to Trump, saying that disputes over trade ought to be settled through negotiation, reports the Associated Press.