Bloomberg Quotes Bernd Janzen on Commerce’s Tariff Exclusion Processing
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Bernd Janzen, an international trade partner at Akin Gump, has been quoted in the Bloomberg Law article “Steelmaker Objections Defeat Nearly All Pleas for Tariff Relief.” The story looks at the frustrations being felt by various parties over the Commerce Department’s system for processing tariff exclusions.
Four of the largest U.S. steel producers, the article reports, have made a majority of the objections to companies’ requests for relief from steel tariffs, which is dashing the hopes of importers of escaping the duties. The companies say they object to imports if steel is already available in the United States. Importers, however, say they are hurting because of the delays in decision making.
A major problem with the system is lack of information on how the Commerce Department makes a decision, said Janzen. “How do they decide when the requester and the objector say different things?” he asked. Frustration with the delays and general opacity of the system will likely result in litigation, he added.
