US dept of commerce considers additional steel - aluminum derivatives
Date of Publication: May 29, 2025
On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued Proclamations that were a continuation and expansion of the existing Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The changes went into effect on March 12, 2025. Previous regulatory insight articles can be found here and here. The rates of duty imposed are in addition to any other duties, fees, exactions, and charges applicable to such imported aluminum/steel and derivative aluminum/steel articles. The initial lists of steel and aluminum derivative articles within scope were provided in Annex 1 to each respective Federal Register Notice.
As part of the Proclamations, the White House directed the Secretary of Commerce to develop, within 90 days after publication of the proclamation in the Federal Register, a mechanism that would allow producers to request Commerce to
expand the list of steel and aluminum derivative products
(i.e., subject to the additional 25% duties/tariffs). These derivative products are subject to a 25% tariff either on the value of the entire good (if classified in HTSUS Chapters 72, 73 or 76) or on the aluminum/steel portion of the product (if classified outside those chapters).The inclusion process
On May 2, 2025, Commerce issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) spelling out the process for additional products to be included on the steel and aluminum derivatives lists. The process was outlined as follows:
- The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) would establish a submissions window to receive aluminum and steel derivative inclusion requests from industry during two-week submission windows opening three times annually at the beginning of each May, September, and January, with thefirst such window to open would be on May 1, 2025.
- BIS will publicly post nonconfidential versions of all valid requests for a 14-day public comment window on regulations.gov after the conclusion of the two-week submission window.
- This action will also represent confirmation of receipt and acceptance by the Department of Commerce, initiating the 60-day timeline for processing derivative inclusion requests as directed in the Inclusions Proclamations. BIS will begin analysis of each accepted inclusion request concurrent with the start of the public comment window.
- With respect to each request, the Secretary or designee will sign a positive or negative determination. After the determination and signature, BIS will generate and publicly post a determination memorandum in regulations.gov for each inclusions request within 60 days of receiving the requests.
- A FRN will then be issued that modifies the Annexes to the Inclusions Proclamations with the included derivative products at the eight- to ten-digit HTSUS subheading. Duties on newly included derivative articles will take effect shortly thereafter through coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
May 1, 2025, inclusion process status
Over 50 companies requested new inclusions from Commerce during the May submission window. This includes hundreds of additional HTSUS classifications
of aluminum and steel derivative products. On May 20, 2025, Commerce posted the petitions to regulations.gov, starting the 14 day window for importers and the public to comment. The deadline for submitting comments is June 4, 2025
. Public comments should be made at www.regulations.gov/docket/BIS-2025-0023. Please refer to RIN 0694–AK13 in all comments.Steps to take
Given the potential impact that additional tariffs could have on a company should its products be included in the derivative scope going forward, it would be wise for importers to review the pending inclusion petitions to identify if any of the Importer’s products are targeted. In the case that they are, consideration should be given to submitting comments by the June 4th deadline.
Because BIS did not provide a consolidated list of all HTSUS numbers under consideration for inclusion on the steel and aluminum derivatives lists, importers would need to open each petition submitted to determine if the product(s) are of concern for them. An unofficial consolidated list has been compiled by customs & trade law firm Roll & Harris LLP, that can be referenced for initial guidance. It summarizes the classifications listed in each petition to expedite the review process. However, importers should still review individual petitions to verify applicability and not rely solely on the unofficial list.
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