BIS issues rule for requesting steel, aluminum tariff exclusions

The interim final rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) set forth the guidelines that entities and individuals should follow in requesting product exclusions from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports scheduled to take effect Friday.    The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has outlined procedures for how U.S. companies may request exclusions from 25 percent steel tariffs and 10 percent aluminum tariffs that President Donald Trump ordered on March 8.
   The tariffs are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, except for imports from Canada, Mexico, and Australia, who the Trump administration has exempted from the otherwise global tariffs.
   The interim final rule released Monday setting forth the procedures is effective immediately.
   Only individuals or organizations using steel and aluminum articles identified in two presidential proclamations issued March 8, may submit exclusion requests, according to the announcement.
   “Allowing individuals or organizations not engaged in business activities in the United States to seek exclusion requests could undermine the adjustment of imports that the president determined was necessary to address the threat to national security posed by the current import of [steel/aluminum] articles,” the announcement says.
   Anyone in the U.S. may file an objection to exclusion requests, but the Commerce Department will consider information only directly related to submitted exclusion requests that are the subject of the objection, BIS said.
   Approved exclusions will generally be limited to the individual or organization that submitted the specific exclusion request, but Commerce could approve broader application of the product-based exclusion request to apply to additional importers, BIS said.
   Commerce will also allow individuals and organizations to submit a request for a product exclusion where a previous exclusion request for the same product had been denied or is no longer valid, BIS said.
   “For example, it might be that the first exclusion request was inadequate to demonstrate the criteria were met for approving that exclusion request,” Commerce said. “The later requester should, however, submit new or different information in an attempt to meet the criteria for approving an exclusion request for that product.”