A letter from the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) to the House Trade Subcommittee states that the process for steel and aluminum tariff exclusions as being expensive, confusing, and inconsistent.
MEMA submitted the letter last week for a hearing on the product exclusions process for the tariffs. In addition to blasting the existing process, they noted that little progress had been made on improving the process since it began, despite consistent complaints from U.S. companies. The entire exclusions process is, in MEMA’s assessment, ineffective.
“The product exclusions process for steel and aluminum as administered by BIS has proven to be unworkable for suppliers and unnecessarily difficult and burdensome for applicants,” the letter said. “This process is putting U.S. jobs and investment at risk and MEMA urges this subcommittee to work with the administration to improve the exclusion process.”
Further, while a Frequently Asked Questions document was made on the issue, it took four months to do so. MEMA said that most of the calls for a more precise process have been largely ignored.
MEMA did offer recommendations for how the process could be improved. The recommendations included clarifying how companies can pursue refunds, providing information on exclusion submissions regarding the completeness of companies’ applications, streamlining the exclusion process and consolidating the process by which trade associations can apply for exclusions on behalf of a whole industry to avoid duplicate requests. They also seek regular reviews of the impacts tariffs have on the economy and users, along with allowing companies to apply for exclusions from countries with exemptions and quotas already in place.
The letter builds on prior determinations by MEMA, which have argued that tariffs which prevent or hinder motor vehicle parts suppliers’ ability to get certain types of steel and aluminum could potentially endanger production of products deemed critical to the U.S. defense industry. They also pose a threat to the job base of the whole U.S. manufacturing industry. MEMA is strongly opposed to the Trump Administration’s tariffs on aluminum and steel coming into the country, arguing that, in trying to level the playing field for domestic jobs, they are putting them in greater harm’s way.