Expansion of Section 232 Tariffs Has Oct. 21 Comment Deadline

The Bureau of Industry and Security has posted online 95 requests to include additional derivative aluminum and steel articles within the scope of the Section 232 tariffs on those goods. Comments on these requests are due no later than Oct. 21.

BIS has previously said it will assess each request for (1) whether the described product is a derivative steel or aluminum article and (2) whether imports of the subject article have increased in a manner that threatens to impair national security or otherwise undermine the objectives set forth in the Section 232 investigation reports or related proclamations.

Each request will be approved or denied and BIS will post a public notice within 60 days of receiving the request that indicates which action was taken and summarizes the reason why. A Federal Register notice will then be issued to add any included products to the annexes to the relevant proclamations.

BIS has indicated that it will accept these kinds of requests during two-week windows opening three times a year at the beginning of each May, September, and January.

In the first iteration of this process the tariffs were expanded to all products covered by inclusion requests except 60 HTSUS numbers that are subject to other ongoing investigations pursuant to Section 232 or other trade statutes. This suggests a similarly expansive approach in the future.

Click here to stay up-to-date on these Section 232 tariffs.