In a notice to be published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2021, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announces the removal of thirty General Approved Exclusions (GAEs) under the Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariff action.

By way of background, a series of Presidential Proclamations issued in 2018 imposed additional duties on imports of aluminum (10%) and steel (25%), respectively, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (Section 232).  With respect to certain countries, quantitative limitations were established in lieu of additional duties.  The Proclamations also authorized the DOC to grant exclusions from the sanctions on a case-by-case basis.   A process involving requests, objections, rebuttals and surrebuttals was established and the approved exclusions were granted on a company-specific basis.

On December 14, 2020, the DOC issued an interim rule which established 123 GAEs that may be used by any importer without the need to file a separate request.

As part of its ongoing review, DOC has decided to eliminate thirty GAEs as it has concluded that the products at issue are associated with exclusion requests that recently received objections and/or denials in the Section 232 Exclusions Portal.  The particular items, identified by their GAE # and tariff classification, are as follows: GAE.3.S: 7220.90.0060, GAE.7.S: 7227.90.1060, GAE.14.S: 7215.50.0018, GAE.16.S: 7228.50.1040, GAE.23.S: 7220.20.6010, GAE.27.S: 7219.32.0020, GAE.33.S: 7304.51.5005, GAE.34.S: 7219.33.0025, GAE.35.S: 7217.90.1000, GAE.37.S: 7217.10.8030, GAE.38.S: 7212.20.0000, GAE.39.S: 7217.20.4560, GAE.52.S: 7219.22.0040, GAE.53.S: 7219.32.0038, GAE.54.S: 7219.32.0045, GAE.55.S: 7219.35.0005, GAE.56.S: 7219.32.0036, GAE.60.S: 7225.50.1110, GAE.68.S: 7302.10.1015, GAE.71.S: 7217.30.4541, GAE.75.S: 7219.21.0005, GAE.76.S: 7304.29.3160, GAE.78.S: 7216.40.0010, GAE.87.S: 7304.29.3180, GAE.92.S: 7208.39.0015, and GAE.98.S: 7229.20.0015, GAE.2.A: 7607.20.5000, GAE.11.A: 7616.99.5170, GAE.14.A: 7601.20.9095, and GAE.15.A:7616.99.5160. This action takes effect fifteen days after the date of publication in the federal register.

The remaining 93 GAEs (which can be accessed in the DOC notice here) continue to remain in effect.

Should you have any questions regarding the above or the Section 232 program in general, please contact Arthur Bodek or any of our other attorneys.