Value of Steel in Appliances to Be Taxed at 50%
The value of the steel in refrigerator-freezers; dryers; washing machines; dishwashers; chest and upright freezers; cooking stoves; ranges and ovens; food waste disposals; and welded wire rack will be taxed at 50%, starting on June 23, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in a notice that will be published in the Federal Register June 16.
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The additions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule are 8418.10.00; 8418.30.00; 8418.40.00; 8422.11.00; 8450.11.00; 8450.20.00; 8451.21.00; 8451.29.00; 8509.80.20; 8516.60.40; and 9403.99.9020. The last number applies to both steel and aluminum wire racks.
If any of those products were imported from the U.K., they would be subject to 25% tariffs; however, Mexico, China, South Korea, Thailand, Canada and Vietnam are all more common exporters, depending on the appliance. There are appliances imported from Denmark, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the U.K. in lower volumes.
If the products are imported from Mexico or Canada, and not subject to trade remedies, the rest of the value of the good would be duty-free. For all other countries other than China, they would be subject to 10% tariffs on the value other than the steel. In the case of refrigerators from China, they are already subject to 25% Section 301 tariffs and 30% emergency tariffs.
The derivative additions are nearly identical to the subheadings CBP erroneously included in a CSMS message June 3, with the addition of subheading 8509.80.20 that wasn’t in the CSMS message (see 2506090008).
The notice did not link these additions to the derivatives addition process launched by BIS, which accepted comments from domestic producers, and then responses to those proposed additions by June 4. BIS said it would make its final decision on which derivatives to add within 60 days.
However, steelmaker Nucor requested that these appliances be added (see 2505210035), but they asked for hundreds more HTS codes that have not yet been listed.
Nucor said that steel accounts for up to 75% of the weight of a typical household appliance, but the weight is not relevant to how the tariff is levied.
CBP asks importers to provide information about the producer's costs to buy the steel for the refrigerator, washer, dryer or other appliance, exclusive of transportation or tariff costs.
Many of the products are imported by the brands, but Lowe's is also a direct importer, according to data services that track import records.