CBP Details Process for Importing Goods Exempt From Section 232 Tariffs

CBP provided further details on how importers of goods excluded from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum can file entries and receive refunds, in a May 21 CSMS message. "Importers and filers importing products granted an exclusion should submit the product exclusion number based on the last six digits of the product exclusion docket number," CBP said. Filers should not "submit the corresponding Chapter 99 HTS number for the Section 232 duties when the product exclusion number is submitted," the agency said.

CBP plans on June 1 to update ACE to allow for such filing (see 1805180022). For exclusions approved by the Commerce Department before June 1, "importers may submit a Post Summary Correction (PSC) on or after June 1, 2018 to request a refund on applicable previous imports of excluded products," CBP said. The Commerce Department is now reviewing product-specific exemption requests, a process that recently drew some industry complaints (see 1805170043). "Exclusions granted by [the Department of Commerce] are retroactive on imports to the date the request for exclusion was posted for public comment," CBP said.

While goods subject to the tariffs aren't eligible for Generalized System of Preferences or African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits, after receiving a Section 232 products exclusion, importers may then receive the benefits, CBP said. "If importers did not receive GSP or AGOA duty preferences on previous imports, and those imports are now covered by a retroactive exclusion, importers may request a refund of the duties subject to GSP or AGOA preferences through a PSC," the agency said. "If the entry has already liquidated, importers may protest the liquidation." The CSMS message doesn't say how exempted products will be treated in terms of drawback or foreign-trade zones.