In December, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a Federal Register Notice, which issued 123 new Section 232 tariff exclusions on steel and aluminum products, as well as a new process for requesting product exclusions from these measures. The new exclusions, called general approved exclusions (GAE), apply to certain steel and aluminum goods entered on or after December 29, 2020. The exemptions are not retroactive.

The specific HTS classifications included in the GAE are referenced in CSMS 45271041; 108 GAEs pertain to steel, and 15 apply to aluminum products. According to the CSMS, the exemptions are specific to HTS numbers and “may be used by any importer and have no quantitative limit.”

CBP published additional guidance on steel and aluminum quotas in CSMS 45300806 (steel), CSMS 45300978 (aluminum), and its Quota Bulletins web page.