Steel Proclamation Ends All 232 Country Exemptions and Quota Agreements March 12
Tariffs are set to take effect March 12 for steel and steel derivatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the U.K., Ukraine and the EU, said the presidential proclamation released late Feb. 10 that increases Section 232 duties on steel, in part by ending Section 232 exemptions and quota agreements for those countries.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
New 25% tariffs on a list of additional steel derivative products, however, won't take effect until notification from the Commerce Department that “adequate systems are in place to fully, efficiently, and expediently process and collect tariff revenue for covered articles.” An annex to the proclamation that lists those additional products has yet to be released..
The additional products won't be subject to Section 232 tariffs if they're processed from steel melted and poured in the U.S. To qualify, importers will have to provide CBP additional data on steel content. The proclamation also sets a process for producers or trade associations to request goods be added to the list of derivatives subject to the additional tariffs. A fact sheet argued that the exemptions led to falling domestic production.
The proclamation also ends the process for exclusions from Section 232 steel tariffs. It says no more exclusions may be considered or renewed, effective immediately. Granted product exclusions will remain in effect until they expire or until the “excluded product volume is imported, whichever occurs first.” All general product exclusions will end March 12.