Correction: Goods imported under Section 232 tariff exclusions count toward quota amounts under an agreement to set tariff rate quotas on Japanese steel (see 2202070064).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is asking for comments on the Section 232 exclusion process, including the request, objection, rebuttal and surrebuttal process, the standards of review, transparency of the process, and General Approved Exclusions. Officials are particularly interested in hearing ideas about how to reduce the volume of submission errors and rejected filings in the exclusions portal; whether reducing the length or type of attachments could speed the processing of requests; whether there should be a public summary of confidential business information underpinning exclusion requests or objections; whether there should be public disclosure of delivery times in requests or objections; whether evidence supporting requests or objections should have to be from the last 90 days; and how to streamline the online forms. Comments should be filed at regulations.gov, docket number BIS-2021-0042, by March 28.
The Commerce Department this week released the results of its 2021 request for information on risks in the semiconductor supply chain (see 2109230018), finding that greater U.S. fab capacity would help alleviate chip supply chain issues. The agency also said U.S. semiconductor companies have “significantly increased the utilization of their existing capacity” since the chip shortage began in 2020, but demand continues to outpace supply. In a report outlining the results, Commerce urged Congress to fund legislation that would provide more support and incentives for the semiconductor industry. “The RFI results make it clear: America needs to produce more semiconductors,” Commerce said. “Congress must pass funding for domestic semiconductor production, such as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, to solve our supply challenges for the long term.”
The Commerce Department Jan. 19 released its quarterly update to its annual list of foreign government subsidies on imported articles of cheese subject to an in-quota rate of duty July 1 through Sept. 30, 2021. The agency again found that only Canada is providing subsidies, in the form of export assistance.