TRUMP’S STEEL AND ALUMINUM TARIFFS TAKE EFFECT – Prior exemptions, duty-free quotas, and product exclusions have expired
U.S. President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on steel and aluminum imports have now taken effect as prior exemptions, duty-free quotas, and product exclusions expired, as his campaign to reorder global trade norms in favor of the U.S. stepped up.
Trump’s action to bulk up protections for American steel and aluminum producers restores effective global tariffs of 25% on all imports of the metals and extends the duties to hundreds of downstream products made from the metals, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency cut off imports qualifying for duty-free entry under quota arrangements well before the midnight deadline, saying in a bulletin to shippers that quota paperwork needed to be processed by 4:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday at U.S. ports of entry or the full tariffs would be charged.
The move was welcomed by U.S. steel producers as restoring Trump’s original 2018 metals tariffs that had been weakened by numerous country exclusions and quotas and thousands of product-specific exclusions.
The countries most affected by the tariffs are Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S., Brazil, Mexico and South Korea, which all have enjoyed some level of exemptions or quotas.
China remains the number two supplier of aluminum and goods made from aluminum, but already faces high tariffs to counteract alleged dumping and subsidies, as well as a new 20% tariff that Trump has imposed over the past month over fentanyl trafficking.
