Cotton Asks Commerce to Change Exclusion Rules for Section 232 Aluminum Extrusions
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked the Commerce Department to change its rules for Section 232 tariff exclusions for extruded aluminum. In a June 7 letter, he argued that the tariffs protect primary aluminum producers, but that "overly broad tariff exclusion rules" have resulted in insufficient protection for U.S. aluminum extrusions.
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He said that the concept that a domestic producer's protest must be based on its ability to produce the good in the near term is a reasonable one, but that the eight-week requirement ignores the fact that tooling must be designed for each job, and that can take weeks. "This is not the result of extruder lethargy or a lack of productive capacity. Instead, it is the nature of custom manufacturing," he wrote.
"As a result of these exclusions, extruded aluminum imports have risen 82 percent and American producers have lost millions of tons of possible sales since 2019. Foreign market penetration now exceeds 25 percent, the highest level in over a decade. Extruded aluminum imports from Mexico, which is suspected of accommodating Chinese transshipment, have risen an astonishing 150 percent," he wrote.