Commerce Removes 31 Section 232 Tariffs General Approved Exclusions

The Commerce Department will end 31 general approved exclusions from Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, it said in an interim final rule. A review of public comments submitted after the GAEs were approved in December (see 2012100047) led Commerce to determine 26 steel GAEs and four aluminum GAEs no longer meet the criteria, it said. "As a conforming change to a recent U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decision, this rule also removes one additional steel GAE, Commerce said. The interim final rule takes effect 15 days after its publication date, which is currently scheduled for Dec. 9.