After years of complaints about the exclusion process for steel and aluminum tariffs, the Commerce Department is soliciting comments about how to improve it. Comments should include input on what should be on the request, objection and rebuttal forms; who should be allowed to request or object; the information published with the decisions and the factors for making a decision; how granular the product descriptions have to be; and whether there should be exclusions for downstream products.
Comments on a new Section 232 investigation into transformer parts made from electrical steel are due June 9, and rebuttals to those comments are due June 19, the Commerce Department said in a notice. The investigation (see 2005040059) follows years of complaints that companies could avoid 25% tariffs on electrical steel by buying assemblies of that kind of steel.
CBP has assessed about $62 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of May 13, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $51.4 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, and $486.1 million in Section 301 tariffs on goods from the European Union. CBP also has assessed about $7 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $2.1 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells account for $1.7 billion in assessed tariffs. CBP's statistics account for refunds provided to importers.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 4-8 in case they were missed.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in an updated list of its priorities for a U.S.-United Kingdom free trade agreement, said it wants a “single, comprehensive agreement,” not a phased approach that resolves just “a subset of issues.” The Chamber released its list the same day negotiations began (see 2005050014) May 5. It wants the U.S. and the U.K. to eliminate all tariffs on industrial goods, to address non-tariff barriers in industrial goods, and for the U.K. to end what the Chamber calls “non-science-based restrictions on agricultural trade.” The Chamber also is calling for the administration to promptly remove Section 232 tariffs on British steel and aluminum.
The Commerce Department will open an investigation to decide whether imports of cranes from Austria, Germany, Japan and other countries are imperiling national security. The Bureau of Industry and Security will conduct the investigation and request comments in a coming notice, it said.
Politicians whose constituents work at electrical steel mills hailed the news that electrical steel cores and laminations used to make transformers, as well as transformers and transformer regulators, are going to be subject to a Section 232 investigation (see 2005040059). Three of the four senators from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and a Pennsylvania congressman, lauded the administration for considering further protection for AK Steel, which was acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs in March. Once imported electrical steel was subject to 25% tariffs, AK Steel said imports of downstream products made from this kind of steel increased.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 27 - May 3:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP reminded importers that they may request extensions of liquidation to preserve their right to refunds of sections 232 and 301 tariffs when liquidation is approaching but their requests for tariff exclusions are still pending, in a CSMS message sent May 1. “Given the potential retroactive application of Section 232 and Section 301 product exclusions, in situations where the importer has requested a product exclusion and the request is pending with the [Commerce Department] or [the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative], the importer or their licensed representative may submit a request to extend the liquidation of impacted unliquidated entry summaries to CBP,” CBP said.