Firms seeking steel tariff reprieve get ‘rules’

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump’s administration outlined rules for how automakers, pipeline operators and other companies can seek exemptions from new steel and aluminum tariffs that could be worth billions of dollars.
The Commerce Department opened the door for those requests with an interim final rule that invites applications from companies or individuals supplying steel to US entities that use the metal in construction, manufacturing or other domestic business activities.
The move marks the formal start of a tariff exclusion process that food packagers, brewers and other companies have been preparing to use since Trump’s March 8 announcement that he was slapping a 25 percent levy on foreign steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.
Companies have been lining up lobbyists and lawyers across Washington in anticipation of seeking the valuable exemptions.
Under the new rule, a company can ask the Commerce Department for an exemption from the tariffs if the product “is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount” or is not of “satisfactory quality”.
They can also make an argument on national security grounds.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security promised to move swiftly, asserting that its review of exclusion applications normally will take 90 days or less—including time needed to consider objections to proposed waivers.
Tariff supporters will have a chance to argue against proposed exemptions but will have to submit their objections within 30 days of an application. By contrast, there is no time limit on applications for exclusion. Metal producers and the Alliance for American Manufacturing have warned that overly broad exemptions could undermine the entire effort.
Companies seeking a break from the tariffs are being encouraged to focus their applications on the availability of the product in the US.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “will consider information about supply in other countries to the extent relevant to determining whether specific national security considerations warrant an exclusion,” according to the rule. The product-specific exclusions are distinct from a separate effort by foreign governments to get waivers.