The US Department of Commerce (US DOC) has announced that its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has begun granting its first product exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel.
The DOC stated that seven different US companies importing steel products from Japan, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and China have been excluded from the 25 percent additional duties on steel imports. The seven companies receiving the exclusions are: Schick Manufacturing, Inc. of Shelton, Connecticut; Nachi America Inc. of Greenwood, Indiana; Hankev International of Buena Park, California; Zapp Precision Wire of Summerville, South Carolina; U.S. Leakless, Inc. of Athens, Alabama; Woodings Industrial Corporation of Mars, Pennsylvania; and PolyVision Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia. However, the exempted steel products are not specified by the DOC.
According to the DOC, exclusions are being granted after a thorough and transparent process of public comment and analysis to determine whether the domestic industry can provide those products of a satisfactory quality and in sufficient quantity, as well as whether it is in the US national security interest to grant exclusion for a specific product.
The DOC will be posting decisions on steel and aluminum exclusion requests on an ongoing basis.