On February 10, 2025, President Trump issued two Proclamations announcing the reinstatement of the 25% tariff on all steel imports and the reinstatement and increase of tariffs on aluminum imports to 25% pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232). Under the Proclamations, the tariffs also apply to certain steel and aluminum derivative articles. (For further discussion regarding the Proclamations, see our previous trade alert.) The Proclamations also required the Secretary of Commerce (the “Secretary”) to establish a process for including additional derivative steel and aluminum articles to the list of products covered by the tariffs.
On May 2, 2025, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), published an interim final rule, effective April 30, 2025, establishing the steel and aluminum derivative inclusion process.
Inclusion Request Process
For derivative inclusion requests, BIS established a two-week submission window to occur three times a year in January, May, and September. The first submission window began on May 1, 2025. Only domestic steel and aluminum or derivative article producers and industry associations may submit a derivative inclusion request.
A valid inclusion request must include the following:
- Clear identification of the applicant (i.e., individual, company, or trade association);
- A precise definition of the derivative article;
- The eight or ten-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) classification to be included in the scope of the tariffs;
- An explanation of why the article is a steel or aluminum derivative article, including, to the extent practicable, information on the total value of the article's steel and/or aluminum content as a share of the derivative article's total value;
- Pertinent information on the domestic industry affected;
- Statistics on imports and domestic production;
- A description of how and to what extent imports of the derivative article threaten to impair the national security or otherwise undermine the objectives set forth in the 2018 Steel and Aluminum Section 232 investigation reports or related Inclusions Proclamations.
Filers who submit incomplete or improper requests will be given 48 hours to correct and resubmit the requests at BIS’s discretion.
Post-Request Process
The submission period is followed by a two-week comment period where non-confidential versions of inclusion submissions will be posted for public comment. Concurrently, BIS will begin the sixty-day processing period. During this time, each request will be assessed to determine whether:
- The product at its eight or ten-digit HTSUS classification is a derivative steel or aluminum article; and
- The derivative article imports have increased in a manner that threatens to impair U.S. national security or undermine the objectives of the Proclamations or Section 232 investigation reports.
Within the 60-day processing period, the Secretary or designee will sign a determination either approving or denying the request. BIS will then post a determination memorandum for the public which will state the Secretary’s decision and explain the rationale for the decision. Then, BIS will issue a Federal Register notice to change the relevant steel or aluminum Proclamation’s annex to include the newly added product’s HTSUS subheading. Duties on the newly-added derivative articles will take effect after Department of Commerce coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Both U.S. domestic industry and importers of steel and aluminum derivative articles have a stake in the outcomes of the new derivative inclusion request process. Domestic industry should track the submission windows to submit inclusion requests or publicly comment in support of such requests, while importers and other interested parties should monitor and comment to argue against the inclusion of derivatives that would be damaging to their respective businesses.
