Consumer Electronics Daily was a Warren News publication.

Commerce Confirms June 28 Effective Date for Aluminum Licensing, Extends Deadline for Some Data

The Commerce Department on May 20 released a final rule confirming its June 28 effective date for licensing requirements under its Aluminum Import Monitoring System (see 2103290041), but extending by six months, until June 28, 2022, the period during which filers can put “unknown” for data elements on where the aluminum was smelted.

The final rule says Commerce “will allow license applicants to continue to state ‘unknown’ for the country of largest smelt and country of second largest smelt license fields until June 28, 2022.” The delay will “enable license applicants sufficient time to gather the requisite information,” Commerce said. “Effective one year from the beginning of compliance of the Final Rule, June 29, 2022, filers will no longer be able to state ‘unknown’ and will be required to provide the requested information for these fields.”

The delay was requested by a commenter on Commerce’s initial delay of the licensing requirements (see 2101250020), which had originally been planned to take effect in January (see 2012220033). The commenter had said the requirement to identify country of smelt was not made clear in Commerce’s proposed rule, and adding the data field to its existing systems for tracking purchases “will require substantial reprogramming.”

The delay “places importers on notice that they need to start collecting the necessary documentation that tracks this information within their supply chains,” Commerce said. “It will also allow the AIM system to be launched expeditiously while providing importers an adjustment period to start collecting this information.”

Commerce also received comments seeking an expansion of the licensing scheme to all products of chapter 76 of the tariff schedule, and a requirement that importers provide mill test certificates to CBP. The agency said it will issue a subsequent notice after the import monitoring system is in place, and will consider any requests for the program’s expansion or the mill test certificate requirement at that time.