Trump allows some Section 232 relief

The president signed two proclamations that will extend the ability to apply for exclusions from steel and aluminum quotas.    President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation allowing the Commerce Department to provide targeted relief from Section 232 import quotas on steel and aluminum, Commerce noted in a press release Wednesday night.
   Commerce investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 resulted in duties on steel and aluminum imports applicable to most countries, but the Trump administration also negotiated absolute quotas with South Korea, Argentina and Brazil for steel imports and with Argentina for aluminum imports. Imports subject to these quotas are not subject to duties.
   Previously, Commerce’s exclusion processes had only applied to Section 232 duties.
   Companies can now apply for product exclusions based on insufficient quantity or quality available from U.S. steel or aluminum producers, the department said.
   In limited cases, steel articles are being used in a facility construction project in the U.S. that were contracted for purchase before the decision to impose quotas and can’t currently enter the U.S. because a quota has already been reached. Commerce said in these cases steel may only be imported upon payment of the 25 percent Section 232 tariff on steel.
   “This proclamation provides the department the same product exclusion authority for quotas that we already have for tariffs,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
   House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, applauded the announcement and noted that he and several other lawmakers, including Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., and Reps. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and John Culberson, R-Texas, urged Ross over the last several months to improve the exclusion process.
   “Now that these very helpful improvements are in place, I am confident that Commerce will continue to expedite and streamline the process using its existing authority to expedite and streamline the process using its existing authority to make relief broadly available and extend it where there are no objections,” Brady said in a statement. “I will continue to engage with Secretary Ross and his staff to that end.”