The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has begun granting its first product exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel.  

BIS denied 56 steel exclusion requests from 11 different companies, while granting 42 exclusion requests covering seven different companies importing steel products from Japan, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, and China.

The seven companies receiving the exclusions were: Schick Manufacturing, Inc.; Nachi America Inc.; Hankev International; Zapp Precision Wire; U.S. Leakless, Inc.; Woodings Industrial Corp.; and PolyVision Corp.

“This first set of exclusions confirm what we have said from the beginning – that we are taking a balanced approach that accounts for the needs of downstream industries while also recognizing the threatened impairment of our national security caused by imports,” stated Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross.

Ross described the exclusion process as “thorough and transparent.”

But numerous U.S. companies have a different view of the process, proclaiming it a “bureaucratic nightmare,” according to CNN Money.

“As they seek exemptions from the tariffs, which have sharply raised costs, these companies describe a lengthy, opaque review process,” writes Julia Horowitz of CNN. “They say the uncertainty is already hurting their businesses and may cost them jobs.”

More than 22,500 exclusion requests have been filed so far – a figure that’s expected to balloon to 40,000 now that President Donald Trump’s tariffs apply to close U.S. trading partners including Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

U.S. companies must file a separate application for each product they wanted excluded. Once the request is posted on regulations.gov – typically weeks after it was filed – domestic companies have 30 days to comment. The Commerce Department has an additional 90 days after the comment period ends to issue a final determination. 

“Complicating the process, large steel companies like US Steel (X) and Nucor (NUE) have tried to block many requests at the last minute, giving businesses that want exemptions little or no time to respond,” Horowitz writes.

“There’s no particular opportunity to go back and say they’re wrong,” said Alexander Schaefer, a partner at the Washington law firm Crowell & Moring representing several companies that have filed exclusion requests.

Several high-profile companies, from nail manufacturer Mid Continent Nail Corp. to iconic motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, have struggled with the tariffs. While Harley has not filed an exclusion request on the 232 tariffs, the application of those tariffs to steel and aluminum from Europe prompted the EU to apply retaliatory tariffs on Harley motorcycles sold there.

The Section 232 tariffs were applied to steel and aluminum on the grounds of national security. Announced in March, the tariffs were eventually applied to U.S. allies, including Canada, Mexico, and the EU, on June 1 after an initial month-long exemption.

The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, The Hill reports.

The trade association and two member companies claim Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum are unconstitutional because they represent an improper “delegation of legislative power to the president,” and violate the doctrine of separation of powers, according to The Hill.

The suit, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, asks the court to block the Trump administration from enforcing the tariffs.

The 232 tariffs also have been condemned by Senate Republicans who expressed concerns about costs passed on to manufacturers and consumers by higher-priced metals.

“These tariffs do not support U.S. national security,” stated Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. “Instead, they harm American manufacturers, damage our economy, hurt American consumers and disrupt our relationship with long-term allies while giving China a free pass.”

The Trump administration has collected more than $775 million from the metals tariffs since they were imposed in March, Bloomberg reports. The total is expected to exceed $1 billion with the next six weeks.