Commerce Inundated with Tariff Exclusion Requests

Thousands of manufacturers, big and small, have filed paperwork with the Commerce Department requesting that their products be exempted from the 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports. Their argument is that their product must be imported because it is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or that it is essential for the nation’s security. Commerce is struggling to process the high volume of requests, leaving applicants to wonder when and how their fate will be determined.

One producer, which relies on raw materials from its parent company located outside the United States, filed its exemption request on in early April. Domestic competitors then had 30 days to comment. “The government now has 90 days to make a decision, but nobody knows what that process is about,” said a spokesperson for the filer. “The big question on the table at this point is, now what? If the U.S. industry says it can make the product, is that the end of it, or is there a verification process?”