U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced details implementing the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system that the United States and the European Union (EU) negotiated as a replacement for Section 232 national security tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products. The TRQ system went into effect on January 1, 2022.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has established overall TRQ limits, by individual Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) steel/aluminum group covered. The DOC has subdivided the overall TRQ into TRQ limits for merchandise produced by each EU country, based on historical U.S. import data. The TRQ limits are also divided by quarter.
Country-specific TRQs for steel products entered during the first and second quarters of 2022 are provided in CBP Publication No. 1628-1221: EU Sec. 232 Steel Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) 2022 Q1 and Q2.
Country-specific TRQs for aluminum products entered during the first and second quarters of 2022 are provided in CBP Publication No. 1627-1221: EU Sec. 232 Aluminum Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) 2022.
Please note that, within the EU country-specific and product-specific limits, CBP will administer the programs on a first-come, first-serve basis. If covered merchandise enters after the quota limit for the quarter has closed, the merchandise will be subject to the Section 232 tariffs. Also note that merchandise qualifying for a product exclusion will not be counted against the EU TRQ. Therefore, if your company has entered steel or aluminum in the past under a Section 232 tariff exclusion, you should continue to do so and renew your exclusion as necessary.
Additional details for the steel TRQ program are provided in the CBP bulletin, QB 22-801 2022: First and Second Quarter Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for Steel Mill Articles of European Union (EU) Member Countries.
Additional details for the aluminum TRQ program are provided in the CBP bulletin, QB 22-901 2022: First and Second Period Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for Aluminum Articles of European Union (EU) Member Countries.
Please also note that President Biden has directed the DOC to publish a notice seeking comments from interested parties on the Section 232 exclusion process. Following the comment period, the DOC will issue a regulation to revise the exclusion process as appropriate, including consideration of whether the availability and national security criteria for granting exclusions continue to be appropriate. We highly encourage companies that are utilizing the exclusion process to file comments to continue the exclusion on the basis of availability.
