USITC Investigation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Heats Up

The investigation is in response to a request by the US Trade Representative (USTR), for estimates of the highest and the average GHG emissions intensities of US steel and aluminum producers.

At the end of the investigation, the USITC will submit a report to the USTR, including direct and indirect national emissions intensities estimates at a product-category level, as well as emissions estimates associated with material and resource inputs. The estimates collected will inform the USTR’s discussions with the European Union (EU) about the proposed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, which was announced in tandem with the tariff rate quota exempting certain volumes of EU imports from the additional Section 232 tariffs in December 2021.

To develop the requested emissions intensity estimates, the USITC is issuing questionnaires to all companies with facilities producing steel and aluminum in the United States, whether US- or foreign-owned. Data collected through the questionnaires, as well as external public sources, will likely inform the USITC’s analysis and ultimately the US position in future discussions with the EU.

The ‘Who’: Companies and Facilities in the United States

Any company producing covered steel and aluminum products at any point in the 2022 calendar year is required to respond to the questionnaire. This includes facilities engaged in manufacturing processes that transform inputs and covered products into different categories of inputs and covered products. It can also include certain specific manufacturing processes that do not result in transformation of covered products into different categories: (1) the manufacturing of secondary unwrought aluminum from other forms of secondary unwrought aluminum and (2) heat treatment of steel products in a standalone facility. Other light manufacturing processes that occur in facilities where the above transformations occur are also considered production, necessitating submission of a questionnaire.

Processors engaged solely in light manufacturing processes that do not result in the transformation of covered products into different categories of covered products do not need to provide a response to the questionnaire. Examples of processors are service centers that solely cut or slit steel or aluminum, facilities that solely thread tubular products, or facilities that lightly manufacture steel or aluminum prior to use in the production of downstream goods.

The ‘What’: Covered Products

Steel and aluminum products covered by the investigation are listed here. A table summarizing the descriptions of covered products is below:

Products that match either the description or listed Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading are considered to be “covered.”

The ‘When’: Deadlines

• Responses to company-level questionnaire: April 22, 2024 (parties may request an extension).
• Responses to facility-level questionnaire: June 8, 2024.
• Filing all written submissions: June 28, 2024
• Transmittal of USITC’s report to the USTR: January 28, 2025

ArentFox Schiff’s International Trade & Investment team has experience working on trade issues impacting the steel and aluminum industries. If you have received a questionnaire from the USITC or have questions regarding this investigation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensities, please contact any ArentFox Schiff International Trade and Investment group.