U.S. President Donald Trump has adjusted tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum, and copper to simplify compliance procedures and prevent the undervaluation of imports. This was announced in a White House statement.
According to the document, the U.S. will maintain a 50% import tariff on steel and aluminum under Section 232, but will apply the rate to prices paid by American consumers. It is currently unclear how the sales price and corresponding duties will be determined.
Other changes announced by the Trump administration include the following measures.
The U.S. will eliminate the 50% tariff on derivative products made from steel, aluminum, and copper if the metal content in the product is less than 15% by weight.
Certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and power grid equipment will be taxed at a rate of 15% until 2027 to accelerate the large-scale expansion of the industrial base currently underway in the U.S. Reuters notes that steel producers pushed for this lower rate for steelmaking equipment manufactured in Germany and Italy.
Products containing more than 15% by weight of steel, aluminum, or copper will be subject to a reduced tariff of 25%—applied to the total import value, not just the metal content.
Products manufactured abroad entirely from American steel, aluminum, and copper will be subject to lower tariffs of 10%.
As a reminder, on March 26, the European Parliament gave the “green light” to the EU-US trade agreement reached last year, albeit with certain conditions. In particular, MEPs voted in favor of a deferral clause, insisting that the new European preferences would take effect only if the United States fulfills its obligations. This includes reducing U.S. tariffs on EU products containing no more than 50% steel and aluminum to a level of no more than 15%.
Furthermore, regarding EU goods with a steel and aluminum content exceeding 50%, if the U.S. does not reduce its tariffs to a level of no more than 15%, the bloc’s tariff preferences for exports of steel, aluminum, and their derivative products from the United States will cease to apply six months after this regulation enters into force.