Commerce Department opens new automobile parts Section 232 tariff Inclusions Process

Alert
|
9 min read

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and International Trade Administration (ITA) have established a new “Inclusions Process” for US automotive industry manufacturers to request that Commerce add new automobile parts to the coverage of the 25% automobile parts Section 232 tariffs.1 Applicants will have four two-week windows every year to file the requests with ITA, followed by a two-week public comment window for stakeholders to review the requests. ITA will make the decisions on any tariff modifications within 60 days of the start of the public comment window. This action follows from President Trump’s March 26, 2025 proclamation imposing Section 232 tariffs automobiles and automobile parts, which instructed the Department of Commerce to create a process for adding other automobile parts to the scope of the tariffs.2

ITA has confirmed that the first application window opened on October 1 and will close on October 14, 2025. Following the two-week submission window, ITA will post the inclusion requests for a 14-day public comment period. The deadline for ITA to decide on the applications will be 60 days after the publishing of these non-confidential versions. Any tariff changes will follow soon after.

The new automobile parts tariffs Inclusions Process

The ITA submission process will allow companies that produce automobiles or automobile parts in the United States (or their industry association representative) to file applications that seek the addition of new automobile parts to the Section 232 tariffs. ITA will accept the applications in four scheduled submission windows every year and then post the applications for public review. After receiving the applications, ITA will have 60 days to review and publish a determination. Finally, ITA will implement any tariff changes by publishing a Federal Register notice.

Scheduled application phase windows

ITA has established four two-week windows per year for submitting inclusion applications. The windows are in the first two weeks of January, April, July, and October, beginning on the first business day of the month and will recur every year. Though the rule provides specific dates for the applications windows, delays are still possible.

The inclusion applications

Producers of automobiles or automobile parts in the United States (or an industry association representing one or more such producers) can file applications to seek the inclusion of additional automobile parts in the Section 232 tariffs. The applications must “establish that imports have increased in a manner that threatens to impair the national security or otherwise undermines the objectives set forth in Proclamation 9888, the Automobile Proclamation, or any subsequent proclamation addressing the threatened impairment to the national security under Section 232.”

To file an application, submitters must email a PDF to ITA with the following information:

  • “Clear identification of the requestor (i.e., producer of an automobile or automobile parts article, or an industry association of such producers);”
  • “A precise description of the automobile parts article that is the subject of the request;”
  • “The eight or ten-digit HTSUS classification requested to be included in the scope of the tariffs;”
  • “An explanation of why the article is an automobile parts article;”
  • “Pertinent information on the domestic industry affected;”
  • “Statistics on imports and domestic production;” and
  • “A description of how and to what extent imports of the article have increased in a manner that threatens to impair the national security or otherwise undermines the objectives set forth in Proclamation 9888, the Automobile Proclamation, or any subsequent proclamation addressing the threatened impairment to the national security.”

If an application includes business confidential information, the filer should include a non-confidential public version. The applications have a 30-page limit. ITA will review the applications upon receipt to ensure they meet the regulation’s requirements. For any application deemed invalid due to missing elements or other errors, ITA may grant the filer 48 hours to resubmit a corrected filing.

Public comment window

After receiving the applications and closing the two-week submission window, ITA will begin its review by posting the non-confidential versions of the valid applications for a 14-day public comment window. Once posted, interested stakeholders can submit feedback on the applications through the public dockets at regulations.gov. The annual docket for October’s submission window will be found under the ID: ITA-2025-0038. The January docket is ITA-2025-0039, April is ITA-2025-0040, and July is ITA-2025-0037.

The notice states that collecting public comments “will ensure a transparent, complete, and legally robust process for conducting analysis and making final determinations of [automobile parts] inclusion requests,” but provides no criteria for what the public comments should address or explain how ITA will consider the public comments.

ITA application review

Posting the applications for public comment will start the 60-day clock for ITA to complete its review. Alongside gathering public comments, ITA will assess the inclusion applications under two criteria: (i) “whether the described product at the eight- or ten-digit HTSUS classification is an automobile parts article;” and (ii) “whether imports of such automobile parts articles have increased in a manner that threatens to impair the national security or otherwise undermines the objectives set forth in Proclamation 9888, the Automobile Proclamation, or any subsequent proclamation addressing the threatened impairment to the national security.”

ITA determination

For each application, ITA will make a positive or negative determination by the end of the 60-day review period. ITA will then post determination memoranda to the public docket on regulations.gov for each determination. The memoranda will state whether ITA has approved or denied the application and summarize the rationale for their determination.

Tariff implementation

To implement tariffs for affirmative determinations, ITA will issue a Federal Register notice identifying the derivative products at the eight- to ten-digit HTSUS subheading and amending the products to the automobile parts product list in the Section 232 proclamation. The regulation states the new tariffs “will take effect shortly thereafter.”

President Trump’s March 2025 automobile and automobile parts Section 232 tariff and further modifications

President Trump issued the presidential proclamation imposing the 25% tariff on all imports of passenger vehicles, light trucks, and certain automobile parts on March 26, 2025. The tariffs on finished vehicles entered into effect on April 3 and the tariffs on automobile parts entered into effect on May 3. The proclamation introduced the inclusions process to allow the Department of Commerce to expand on the original scope of the automobile parts tariff through both the Department of Commerce’s own discretion and in response to requests from domestic manufacturers. The original scope of the automobile parts tariff includes certain engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain parts, and electrical components.

The proclamation allows for a temporary tariff exclusion for automobile parts imported under the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) but otherwise applies to all countries. Eventually, ITA will replace the temporary tariff exclusion for automobile parts imported under USMCA with a narrower tariff exclusion that would only apply to the US-origin content of automobile parts imported under USMCA.

A few months after implementing the tariffs, President Trump introduced an exception to the automobile parts tariff for domestic automotive manufacturers, following calls for more flexibility from the industry. On June 13, 2025, ITA issued implementing procedures to administer the “import adjustment offset program.”3 The program allows companies that manufacture finished vehicles in the United States to receive an “import adjustment offset amount” that reduces the cost of tariffs on imported automobile parts. The companies that receive the offset from ITA will designate specific automobile parts importers, who would then apply the offset to reduce the tariffs owed under the automobile parts Section 232 tariff.

Country-specific trade deals

Though the Trump administration has not provided any broad exceptions to the automotive Section 232 tariffs, several recent trade deal framework agreements have included reductions in the tariff rates or alternative tariff-rate quotas (TRQ). Under the existing deals, the United Kingdom, European Union, and Japan have obtained partial relief. Other US trade partners, such as South Korea, are reportedly seeking similar tariff reductions.

The US-UK agreement4 includes a TRQ for finished passenger vehicles and a reduced tariff rate for certain automobile parts. A TRQ with a 10% tariff (inclusive of a 7.5% Section 232 tariff and the standard 2.5% MFN rate) for 100,000 passenger vehicles replaces the 25% Section 232 tariff. Certain automobile parts of UK origin covered by the automobile parts Section 232 tariff are subject to an alternative flat 10% tariff rate instead of the standard 25% Section 232 tariff rate and any applicable MFN tariffs. The list of UK automotive parts that receive this tariff reduction is separate from and narrower than the list of automobile parts subject to the Section 232 tariff. It is unclear whether new the automobile parts that ITA adds to the Section 232 tariff list through the Inclusions Process would also be added to the UK’s 10% alternative tariffs list, or if newly added parts from the UK would face the full 25% tariff rate.

The framework agreements with Japan and the EU both include a preferential automotive Section 232 tariff rate of the higher of either (1) 15% or (2) the Column 1 MFN rate, if the Column 1 MFN rate is above 15%.5 For a covered automotive product of the EU or Japan with a Column 1 MFN duty rate below 15%, the total duty rate, including the Section 232 tariff and MFN, would be 15%. For a covered automobile product of the EU or Japan with a Column 1 MFN duty rate of 15% or higher, the Section 232 tariff will be 0% (leaving only the Column 1 MFN rate in effect). US Column 1 MFN tariff rates for the covered automobile parts vary but are all below 15%, meaning the new tariff rates for automobile parts will total 15%, inclusive of the Section 232 tariff and Column 1 MFN tariff rates.

Jacob Stowell (Legal Assistant, Washington, DC) contributed to the development of this publication.

1 “Adoption and Procedures of the Section 232 Automobile Parts Tariff Inclusions Process,” 90 FR 44767 (September 17, 2025); and the new regulations at Supplement No. 2 to Part 705, Title 15. 
2 Proclamation 10908 of March 26, 2025: “Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts into The United States,” 90 FR 14705. 
3 “Procedures To Administer Import Adjustment Offset Amounts for Certain Imports of Automobile Parts Under Proclamation 10908, as Amended,” 90 FR 25027 (June 13, 2025).
4 Executive Order of June 16, 2025: “Implementing the General Terms of the United States of America-United Kingdom Economic Prosperity Deal,” 90 FR 26419; and “Imports of Automobiles, Automobile Parts, Civil Aircraft and Civil Aircraft Parts from the United Kingdom Under Executive Order 14309,” 90 FR 27851 (June 30, 2025).
5 Executive Order of September 4, 2025: “Implementing the United States-Japan Agreement,” 90 FR 43535; “Implementing Certain Tariff-Related Elements of the United States-Japan Agreement,” 90 FR 44638 (September 16, 2025); and “Implementing Certain Tariff-Related Elements of the U.S.-EU Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade,” 90 FR 46136 (September 25, 2025).

We provide below a list of partners and senior attorneys within the Global International Trade Practice of White & Case. Please contact any of them with questions about this report or other trade issues.

White & Case means the international legal practice comprising White & Case LLP, a New York State registered limited liability partnership, White & Case LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under English law and all other affiliated partnerships, companies and entities.

This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, comprehensive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be regarded as legal advice.

© 2025 White & Case LLP

Contacts

Ian Saccomanno
Ian Saccomanno
Senior Trade Analyst|Washington, DC
Services
International Trade, National Security

Service areas

Top