The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on the 20th that it has approved the first applications for steel products that are exempted from the U.S. "232" tariff.

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a statement on the same day saying that on that day, 42 applications for “232” tariff exemptions filed by seven companies were approved, covering steel products imported from Japan, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, and China. At the same time, 232 applications for tariff waiver for 56 steel products submitted by 11 companies were vetoed.

The U.S. Department of Commerce stated that if the United States does not produce certain types of specific products at the same time, and such products do not generate important national security concerns, they can obtain a “232” tariff exemption.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ross said at the hearing of the Senate Finance Committee that as of June 20, the U.S. Department of Commerce had received “232” tariff waiver requests from companies for about 20,000 steel products and about 2,500 aluminum products.

U.S. President Trump announced on March 8 this year that since imports of steel and aluminum products endanger US “national security,” according to U.S. Article 232 of the 1962 Trade Extension Act, the United States will impose a separate 25% on imported steel and aluminum products. With 10% of tariffs, tariff measures came into effect on March 23rd. U.S. companies may apply for waiver from the U.S. Department of Commerce since March 19. Due to the violation of the WTO rules, the United States steel and aluminum tariffs have been widely opposed by many governments and companies.