The April 2026 Section 232 automobile parts inclusions window opens at 12:00 a.m. ET on April 1, 2026, and closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on April 14, 2026, according to a Federal Register notice published March 24, 2026. Trade compliance engineering teams should monitor this window closely—any automobile parts added through this process will expand the scope of Section 232 duties, directly affecting HTS classification logic and duty rate calculations.

This submission window operates under the framework established by the interim final rule (IFR) published September 17, 2025 (90 FR 44767). That IFR created a recurring quarterly schedule with two-week submission windows in January, April, July, and October, each beginning on the first of the month. The April 2026 window marks the second full calendar year of this quarterly cadence, meaning compliance systems should already account for these predictable review cycles when scheduling data refreshes.

Key Process Detail: Inclusion requests must be submitted directly to the Commerce Department's dedicated automobile parts inclusion inbox. Requests are not filed through Regulations.gov during the submission phase—that portal is used only for the subsequent public comment period on Docket ID ITA-2025-0040.

The entire inclusions process traces its authority to Proclamation 10908, issued March 26, 2025, which imposed specified duty rates on imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Proclamation 10908 also mandated the Secretary of Commerce to create the inclusions mechanism, allowing additional parts to be brought within scope after the initial proclamation. For teams maintaining HTS data APIs, this means the universe of tariff lines subject to Section 232 auto parts duties is not static—it can expand following each quarterly window.

Data Accuracy Alert: After the April 14 deadline closes, Commerce will post accepted inclusion requests for a two-week public comment period on Docket ITA-2025-0040 via Regulations.gov. Any parts ultimately included will require immediate updates to duty rate caches and classification rules. Engineering teams should set calendar alerts for late April to review posted requests and assess potential HTS impacts before final determinations are issued.

The Federal Register notice explicitly instructs submitters to verify that automobile parts under consideration are not already within scope of Proclamation 10908 duties before filing. Additionally, duplicate submissions for parts already pending review are discouraged unless new pertinent information is available. For API consumers, this guidance signals that Commerce is actively managing submission quality—reducing but not eliminating the risk of overlapping or redundant scope expansions that could complicate rate logic.

The International Trade Administration's Office of Transportation and Machinery, coordinating with the Bureau of Industry and Security, administers this process. Questions regarding submission procedures should be directed to the automobile parts inclusion inbox rather than general ITA contacts.

Teams building trade compliance tools against US HTS data should treat each quarterly inclusions window as a trigger for potential schema updates. To ensure your systems reflect current Section 232 scope and duty rates, contact TradeFacts.io at /contact.html for a free 30-day trial of our HTS and tariff data API.

Tariff Wire

Stay ahead of US & Canada tariff changes

Weekly digest for compliance teams and developers. Plain English, no noise.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time.