BIS to Open Process to Include New Auto Parts Under Section 232 Tariffs on Oct. 1
The first window for requests for new auto parts to be covered by Section 232 tariffs will open Oct. 1, beginning a 14-day submission window, followed by a 60-day period to consider the inclusion requests, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in an interim final rule outlining the inclusion process.
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That 60-day window will include a two-week comment period on the inclusion requests. Once BIS makes its final decisions, it will publish a notice in the Federal Register listing the new subheadings to be covered by Section 232 auto part tariffs, with the tariffs to take effect the following day at 12:01 a.m. ET.
BIS said it will open the window for submitting inclusion requests four times per year “at the beginning of each January, April, July, and October.”
The process is nearly the same as the inclusion process for Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, which in its first iteration took about three and a half months from the beginning of the submission window to the imposition of new tariffs. For steel and aluminum, BIS ended up including over 400 new tariff subheadings out of the over 460 requested, for an acceptance rate of about 85% (see 2508150063).
BIS said the inclusion process could allow for the Section 232 auto part tariffs to cover new technologies, as well as tariff subheadings that the administration may have missed when it first issued the tariffs.
“The automotive industry is in a state of rapid development for various technologies, including in the areas of alternative propulsion systems, autonomous driving capabilities, and other advanced technologies,” BIS said. “It is important that manufacturers supporting both the commercial vehicle industry and the defense sector have the opportunity to identify new and emerging automotive products with importance for defense applications to be considered under the scope of this action.
“In addition, there are many automotive products that fall under broad tariff codes that include parts beyond the automotive sector. While the Department made a best estimate of the most important tariff codes to apply to the scope of the Section 232 action, industry experts may be aware of broad Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) codes that have become increasingly important to automotive uses that were not originally considered under this investigation,” BIS said.
Comments on the interim final rule’s procedures for the inclusion process are due Nov. 3. “The comment submission process on this IFR is separate and distinct from the comment submission process for the inclusion requests,” BIS said.