Trailer inspections and visible rust?

I have experience with non-CDL medium and light duty trucks and am looking at getting into an HDT step deck flatbed trailer for a hobby hauler project. I have no experience with DOT inspections.

Looking at several trailers that have cosmetic rust like peeling paint and half dollar size holes in non structural areas. One was last inspected in 2019 and has some loose scale on the main frame rails but no cracks, holes, etc and the welds look good. We're not hauling heavy weight so an older trailer should work fine for us.

I'm hearing mixed answers on whether this would cause an inspection failure, and as I'm reading the FMCSA guidelines, it sounds as if it would pass, but are inspectors more strict in actual practice?

Thanks!