The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday that 407 product categories have been added to the tariff list of steel and aluminum “derivative products” under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. All steel and aluminum materials in these products will be subject to a 50% tariff.
The newly added product categories are extensive, including wind turbine generators and components, mobile cranes, bulldozers and heavy machinery, railway carriages, furniture, compressors, pumps, as well as household appliances, automobile parts, motorcycles, ship engines, and packaging materials for cosmetics such as spray cans, among hundreds of imported goods.
The new tariff measures went into effect on August 18th (Eastern Time), applicable to goods imported after customs declaration or warehouse withdrawal, and no transit exemptions are granted.
Jeffrey Kessler, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial and Security Affairs at the Department of Commerce, stated that the purpose of this action is to “expand the scope of steel and aluminum tariffs, close loopholes, and support the continuous revival of the U.S. steel and aluminum industries.”
This latest action is a continuation of the series of steel and aluminum protection measures by the Trump administration. As early as 2018, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, citing that a large influx of cheap imports weakened the U.S. industrial base and posed a threat to national security.
In February of this year, Trump issued another proclamation canceling some exemptions and strengthening efforts to combat tariff evasion, directing the Department of Commerce to establish procedures for including “derivative products”; in June of the same year, Trump issued another proclamation raising the steel and aluminum tariff rates from 25% to 50%, further strengthening the policy.
The Department of Commerce completed the procedural design in May and is executed by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). According to the product inclusion procedure, the industry can submit “product inclusion” requests three times a year in January, May, and September.
The new list of 407 items is published in the Federal Register and coordinated for enforcement by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The next application window will open in September, and relevant information will be published in the Federal Register.
According to Reuters, research firm Evercore ISI estimates that the total value of the product codes involved in this action exceeds $200 billion in import value, potentially raising the overall effective tariff rate in the U.S. by approximately 1 percentage point.
Steel manufacturers like Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor had previously petitioned the government to include more automobile parts in the taxed range; however, automobile manufacturers and industry groups advocated for the exclusion of certain parts, citing insufficient domestic production capacity. Tesla also opposed the Department of Commerce’s decision, seeking exemptions for specific steel needed for its electric vehicle motors and wind turbine generators, but these requests were ultimately not granted.
The U.S. government considers steel and aluminum as strategic materials for defense and infrastructure. Excessive reliance on imports could weaken national security. In May, the Department of Commerce stated in the Federal Register that if critical military components (such as submarine aluminum alloys) lead to U.S. companies going out of business due to imported dumping, it would endanger supply chain resilience and national security.