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Two major steel firms with ties to the Trump administration have successfully blocked hundreds of requests from American companies to exempt themselves from President Trump’s massive tariffs, according to a Sunday report from the New York Times. The exemption process, the Times notes, was created to help domestic businesses survive under the crushing 25 percent steel tariff, which was put into place this March. Companies could apply for the exemption if they needed a product that wasn’t otherwise available in the United States—but American steel producers were also permitted to object. Since May, more than 20,000 applications have been submitted. The Times adds that Nucor and United States Steel, both of which have ties to the administration, have objected to more than 1,600 such applications in recent months and have not yet failed in their efforts. Approximately half of the 639 denials that have already occurred, the Times adds, came after an objection from Nucor, United States Steel, or one other major firm. Their actions have drawn the ire of rejected businesses, which accuse the firms of “hiding behind the government to try to keep them going.”