CIT Upholds Majority of Importer's Section 232 Exclusion Request Denials

The Court of International Trade sustained 162 requests for Section 232 steel tariff exclusions submitted by importer California Steel Industries in a confidential decision, though the court remanded 31 separate exclusion denials. Judge M. Miller Baker said that should the Commerce Department grant any of the 31 remanded exclusion requests, it shall tell CBP "to honor them" by extending the exclusions to "otherwise-eligible entries" that had not finally liquidated by the fifth business day after the original exclusion request denials (California Steel Industries v. United States, CIT # 21-00015).

California Steel initially took to the trade court in 2021 to contest 193 exclusion denials in total, initially attempting court-led mediation on the issue. After the mediation effort fell through (see 2402050019), Commerce reassessed the exclusion denials on remand but came to the same conclusion (see 2402090057).

Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security rejected all 193 requests, finding there to be no overriding national security concerns that require the exclusions to be granted. The agency also found that the steel slabs California Steel sought to import were available in sufficient quantities from domestic producers, relying on information from U.S. Steel Corp. on its domestic capacity.

Concurrent with its confidential decision, the trade court ordered the parties to meet and report to the court within 14 days on whether the case should return to mediation before Judge Leo Gordon.