September 9, 2019 – On June 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), Office of Technology Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register (FR) an interim final rule for changing the process of filing requests for exclusions from special duties and quantitative limitations on imports of aluminum and steel under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (Section 232). The DOC developed a portal referred to as the 232 Exclusions Portal for persons submitting exclusion requests, objections to exclusion requests, rebuttals, and surrebuttals. The 232 Exclusions Portal replaces the current manner of filing via the general federal rulemaking portal. The 232 Exclusions Portal will streamline the exclusions process while enhancing data integrity and quality controls, and it is available for use now.

On June 24, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published the following in the FR: Procedures for Requests to Exclude Particular Products from the September 2019 Action Pursuant to Section 301: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation (Section 301). The Section 301 Portal opened at noon EDT on June 30, 2019, at which time exclusion requests for products included in Section 301 List 3 (Tranche 3) could be submitted. September 30, 2019, is the deadline for submitting Tranche 3 exclusion requests.