President Joe Biden is unlikely to quickly eliminate steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump, particularly because the U.S. Department of Commerce has theoretically given the Biden administration new breathing room in the form of its latest changes to the exclusion process. Many manufacturers argue that they should not be subject to the tariffs because the steel or aluminum they need is not available from U.S. manufacturers, and they use this exclusion process as they seek relief.

U.S. metal manufacturers have complained loudly about that exclusion process since Trump imposed the 25% tariff on steel and the 10% tariff on aluminum in 2018. They cite the time it takes for the Commerce Department to either approve or disapprove an exclusion application and the favor that the agency has appeared to show U.S. steel manufacturers in objecting to those exclusion requests.