The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has removed several steel and aluminum products from its list of Section 232 tariff exemptions based on public comments and internal analysis. On Monday, the DOC revoked 12 General Approved Exclusions (GAEs) after previously suspending 30 GAEs in December 2021.
This decision removes six steel products, including some flat-rolled and angle products, from the GAE list. Additionally, six aluminum products, including foil, unwrought alloy, and fittings, have also been taken off the list.
According to DOC data, imports of the affected steel products increased by 38% to 1.23 million metric tonnes from 2021 to 2023, after the GAEs were created, compared to the period from March 2018, when Section 232 tariffs were first imposed, through 2020. Imports of the affected aluminum products also climbed, but changes in the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) from 2018 to 2019 may skew comparisons over the same timeframe.
The DOC originally identified 123 GAEs, designed to reduce the number of exclusion requests for products "consistently found not to be produced" in the US, which received either zero or very few objections under the 232 exemption process.
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