Commerce Still Rejects Section 232 Exclusion Bids After Voluntary Remand

The Commerce Department denied two Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion requests after completing a voluntary remand to reconsider its decision to initially reject the exclusion bids. Submitting the denials on Oct. 18 in remand results at the Court of International Trade, Commerce cited the International Trade Administration's analysis of the situation, which found that the domestic industry had enough capacity to take over for the subject imports (Maple Leaf Marketing, Inc. v. U.S., CIT #20-00125).

Maple Leaf Marketing, the plaintiff in the case, initially requested the two Section 232 exclusions for certain steel tubing imports. After they were denied, it took its case to CIT, where Commerce asked for the remand for further consideration of the exclusion denials, following the results of a 2020 CIT case, JSW Steel Inc. v. U.S. (see 2107200057). In its remand motion, Commerce cited as a possibility that it could grant one or both of Maple Leaf's exclusion requests.

Nonetheless, Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security stuck with its initial decision and rejected Maple Leaf's exclusion requests anyway. The ITA found that domestic manufacturer Maverick Tube Corporation, the company that objected to Maple Leaf's exclusion requests, can make an identical product. "ITA notes that Maverick includes a statement that, 'Maverick manufactures [oil country tubular goods] to the dimensional, chemical, and mechanical specifications cited in the Exclusion Request.' As such, ITA has determined that the specific statement made by the objector satisfies and meets the specifications listed in the exclusion request," the remand results said.