WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has revised U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper, lowering duties on many derivative products while keeping a 50% tariff in place for core metal imports. The White House said the changes were set out in a proclamation signed on April 2 and will apply to goods entered for consumption from 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on April 6. The revised schedule covers aluminum articles, steel articles, copper articles and a broad range of downstream manufactured goods.
Under the new structure, articles made entirely or almost entirely of steel, aluminum or copper remain subject to a 50% duty on full customs value. Derivative products substantially made of those metals will generally face a 25% rate, while products containing 15% or less of the covered metals by weight will no longer be subject to the Section 232 metals tariffs. The White House also set a 10% rate for qualifying products made abroad entirely with U.S.-origin metal inputs.
The proclamation also creates a temporary lower band for selected industrial and electrical-grid equipment through Dec. 31, 2027. For goods listed in that category, the total applicable duty rate will be 15% if the normal tariff is below that level, while no additional Section 232 charge will apply where the ordinary tariff rate is already 15% or higher. The White House said the revised duties will now be assessed on the full customs value of imported products, regardless of metal content.
Derivative Products Reset
Annexes released with the proclamation show the 25% list includes a wide range of consumer and industrial products, including some cooking appliances, heating equipment, sports goods and assorted parts. The temporary reduction list covers machinery and components used in industrial production, such as parts of furnaces, conveyors, robots, metal-forming dies, molds and metal-rolling mill equipment. The administration also said goods that fall under more than one covered metal category will be charged only once, not at a combined rate.
The order preserves separate country-specific treatment in some cases. Qualifying U.K. steel and aluminum products receive lower rates, with some goods set at 25% instead of 50% and others at 15% instead of 25%, provided they meet specified origin requirements. The proclamation also leaves in place the existing 200% tariff on specified Russian aluminum and related products, including articles made with primary aluminum smelted in Russia or cast there.
Program Changes Continue
Trump’s latest move reshapes a tariff framework his administration expanded over the past year. In February 2025, the White House overhauled steel and aluminum tariffs and rolled back many exclusions. In June 2025, it raised the tariff rate on steel and aluminum imports to 50%. In July 2025, it brought copper into the Section 232 program at the same 50% level. The new April 2026 proclamation keeps the 50% rate in place but redraws how derivative goods are treated.
The proclamation ends the earlier product-inclusion processes for aluminum, steel and copper derivatives and gives the Commerce secretary and the U.S. trade representative authority to add new derivative items on a rolling basis through future notices. It also directs Customs and Border Protection to enforce the revised regime, including new reporting on where copper in covered imports was smelted and cast. The White House said the agencies must provide a fresh update on the program within 90 days – By Content Syndication Services.