U.S. Department of Commerce’s Aluminum Import Monitoring System to Begin Requiring Licenses
For Immediate Release
June 28, 2021
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
Phone: 202-482-3809
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce will begin requiring and collecting aluminum import licenses for all covered entries into the United States. This new data collection, which will be made available online, will provide Commerce, industry, and the public with greater transparency and earlier information on import trends within the aluminum sector, including surges that could indicate potential circumvention or evasion of trade measures.
As part of the rule, aluminum importers will now be required to register and obtain a license through the International Trade Administration’s Aluminum Import Monitoring (AIM) portal. The licenses are free and automatic and require importers to provide information on volume, value, expected date of importation, HTS code, and country of origin of the covered aluminum as well as to identify the country where the aluminum used in the manufacture of the imported product was most recently cast. Information on the country where imported aluminum products were smelted is also required as part of the license requirements.
The AIM system is modeled after ITA’s Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system, which for nearly two decades has provided the steel industry with early indication of import trends and changing trade patterns.
A one-year grace period is currently in effect for certain reporting requirements for aluminum licenses. This one-year delay places importers on notice that they need to start collecting the necessary documentation that tracks this information within their supply chains. It will also allow the AIM system to be launched expeditiously while providing importers an adjustment period to start collecting information on country of smelt.
The AIM program was announced in December 2020 in a final rule. In March, Commerce debuted its AIM monitor with publicly available import data and will include the aggregated license data in the coming months. For more information on the rule or to view the portal, see https://www.trade.gov/updates-aluminum-import-licensing.
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