Exclusions from US tariffs can take up to 90 days

The review period for requests "normally will not exceed 90 days, including adjudication of objections submitted on exclusion requests" a document said.

Steel and aluminium users that depend on imported products not available from U.S. producers may have to wait up to 90 days for an exclusion from the Trump administration's new metals tariffs, according to a Commerce Department document.

The draft Federal Register notice, which is expected to be published later on Friday evening and was seen by Reuters, outlines procedures for companies to seek such exclusions.

The review period for such requests "normally will not exceed 90 days, including adjudication of objections submitted on exclusion requests," it said.

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The exclusion rules have been anxiously awaited by manufacturing companies since President Donald Trump announced the tariffs on March 7 to protect domestic steel and aluminium producers on national security grounds. U.S. allies, however, remain in the dark about country-specific exemptions.

But steel and aluminium consuming industries that must import products, such as the high-strength steel rod used to make tire belts that is currently unavailable from U.S. steelmakers, may end up paying tariffs for a considerable period before being granted an exclusion.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is expected to begin collecting the tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum on March 23, as determined in Trump's proclamations.

"The request should clearly identify, and provide support for, the basis upon which the exclusion is sought," the Commerce Department said in the notice. "An exclusion will only be granted if an article is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount, is not produced in the United States in a satisfactory quality, or for a specific national security consideration."

The agency, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, an architect of the tariffs and a former steel industry investor, also said it would waive the normal 60-day comment period for the exclusions regulations because this would cause delays that would be "impracticable or contrary to the public interest."

Britain's trade minister, Liam Fox, told Reuters in New York that he was optimistic about a positive resolution to a tariff exemption, despite the closest U.S. security ally's dissatisfaction with the plan.

The European Union is seeking an exemption for all 28 of its member countries. And a Japanese embassy spokesman said Foreign Minister Taro Kono asked USTR officials for an exemption in meetings this week.

The steel tariffs also come as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is finalizing a package of trade sanctions on China over its intellectual property practices as part of a separate investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)