President Trump has issued a proclamation that, effective April 6, revised Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum, and copper and their derivative products, as set forth below.
- A flat 50 percent tariff will be imposed on the full value of articles made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper. Tariffs will no longer be imposed on just the metal content of goods also containing non-metal content.
- A flat 25 percent tariff will be imposed on the full value of derivative articles substantially made of steel, aluminum, or copper.
- Lower tariffs (25 percent on articles and 15 percent on derivative articles) will be imposed on goods in which at least 95 percent of the aluminum was smelted or most recently cast, or at least 95 percent of the steel was melted and poured, in the United Kingdom.
- A 15 percent tariff will be imposed through 2027 on certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment.
- Products made abroad but containing at least 95 percent U.S. melted and poured steel, or U.S. smelted and cast aluminum or copper, will be subject to a 10 percent tariff.
- Products made of 15 percent or less by weight of steel, aluminum, or copper (except those classifiable in HTSUS Chapters 72, 73, 74, or 76) will no longer be subject to Section 232 metals tariffs.
- The process for soliciting public petitions to add new products to the scope of these tariffs has been eliminated, though the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative may make such additions.
An ST&R analysis of the proclamation indicates that it makes no changes to the steel, aluminum, or copper products subject to the tariffs but does (1) extend the tariffs to 13 steel derivatives and four aluminum derivatives and (2) lower or remove the tariffs for hundreds of steel and aluminum derivatives (details can be found in the annexes at the bottom of the proclamation).
A message from U.S. Customs and Border Protection adds that goods listed as articles or derivatives of more than one of these metals will only be subject to one of the tariff rates specified above (i.e., no tariff stacking), even if they contain aluminum and steel, aluminum and copper, steel and copper, or all three metals.
CBP adds that the proclamation does not alter or supersede actions implementing any prior agreements with the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, or Korea to reduce Section 232 tariffs on certain aluminum, steel, or copper articles and derivative articles that fall under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft and either are civil aircraft or are used as parts thereof.
Copyright © 2026 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.