Bipartisan Letter From House Members Criticizes Section 232 Product Exclusion
The process for importers to get product exclusions from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum items is too slow, and too burdensome, according to 39 members of the House of Representatives, from both parties, who have suggestions for how to change it. Their letter, sent May 7 to the Department of Commerce, says that retroactive relief from tariffs should date back to the date of submission, not the date of posting, unless the submission was not initially complete. In that case, the lawmakers say, the refund should be from the date the submission was complete, rather than the date it was publicly posted.
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They also say that companies should not have to submit a separate exclusion request for each dimension, if items share the same Harmonized Tariff Schedule code. They say the paperwork is not clear on that matter: in one place, it says a range of dimensions is acceptable, but in another, it says each application must describe the dimension of the item. This letter, whose lead authors are Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., follows a similar letter from the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee on April 19 (see 1804190048).