At a high-level, the tariffs and related measures imposed by the 2025 Proclamations – which generally are slated to take effect March 12, 2025:
- Reimpose a blanket additional 25 percent tariff on imports from all countries of steel articles and “derivative steel articles”;1
- Impose a blanket additional 25 percent tariff on imports from nearly all countries on aluminum articles and “derivative aluminum articles”;2
- Eliminate the Secretary of the US Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) authority to grant product-specific relief under the Section 232 tariffs.
These Section 232 tariffs are distinct from, and additional to, the tariffs President Trump has announced against China, Canada, and Mexico pursuant to the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). We discuss the scope and status of those tariffs further in our article “Trump administration’s tariffs targeting China, Canada and Mexico.”
History of Section 232 tariffs under Trump
Section 232 authorizes the president (among certain other persons) to request Commerce perform a formal investigation regarding the national security importance of specific articles imported into the United States.3 Commerce must conduct an investigation and provide a report of its findings to the president within 270 days of initiation of the investigation recommending the president take, or refrain from taking, action to restrict the import of such articles into the United States (e.g., imposing tariffs or quotas).4
President Trump previously had imposed tariffs on imports of certain steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) articles in March 2018 pursuant to Proclamation 9705 “Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States” (Proclamation 9705) and Proclamation 9704 “Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into the United States” (Proclamation 9704). These trade restrictions have remained in effect since 2018, though their scope and/or applicability have been narrowed in certain respects and broadened in others in the intervening period. These calibrations have included the:
- Provision of exemptions for imports from certain countries (either absolute exemptions or, alternatively, the imposition of absolute or tariff rate quotas);5
- Provision of various product-specific exemptions granted by the Secretary of Commerce;
- Broadening of covered articles to include “derivative” steel or aluminum articles (see, e.g., Proclamation 9980 of January 24, 2020) (Proclamation 9980);
- Addition of “melt and pour” requirements for imports of steel and derivative steel articles, and an increase in the duty rate for imports of steel and derivative steel articles that are products of Mexico that are melted and poured in a country other than Mexico, Canada, or the United States (see Proclamation 10783 of July 10, 2024).
In addition to steel and aluminum imports, Commerce (under the first Trump administration) initiated Section 232 investigations into six other categories of imports: automobiles and certain automotive parts; uranium ore; titanium sponge; grain-oriented electrical steel for transformers; mobile cranes; and vanadium.6
Scope of 2025 Proclamations
The 2025 Proclamations make several key changes to the existing Section 232 tariffs and other trade restrictions targeting steel and aluminum imports, including:
- Rescinding or modifying the provisions of certain prior proclamations granting various country-specific exemptions from, or modifications of, the initial Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs from 2018;7
- Reimposing a blanket additional 25% tariff on imports from all countries of steel and derivative steel articles;
- Imposing a blanket additional 25 percent tariff on imports from all countries8 of aluminum and derivative aluminum articles.
The 2025 Proclamations include limited exceptions to the 25 percent duty rate for (i) derivative steel articles processed in another country from steel articles that were melted and poured in the United States, and (ii) aluminum articles that are processed in another country from aluminum articles that were smelted and cast in the United States.
Additionally, the 2025 Steel Proclamation provides that certain additional derivative steel articles not already targeted by Section 232 tariffs will be added to a forthcoming Annex (though the 2025 Aluminum Proclamation does not contain the same language).9
Finally, the 2025 Proclamations require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a process for including additional derivative steel articles and derivative aluminum articles not already identified in prior proclamations within the scope of the additional 25% tariffs, and expressly revoke the Secretary’s authority to grant relief for certain steel and/or aluminum products from duties or quantitative restrictions (i.e., quotas). Product exclusions granted prior to the 2025 Proclamations will remain effective until their expiration date or until excluded product volume is imported, whichever occurs first.
Note that the revocation of the Secretary’s authority to grant relief for certain steel and/or aluminum products was effective as of the date of the 2025 Proclamations. The effective 25 percent additional duty rate on all steel and aluminum articles (and covered derivative articles of the foregoing) will be effective March 12, 2025.
Precautionary actions and next steps
Companies importing steel or aluminum articles into the United States (including derivative steel or aluminum articles), or which are otherwise reliant on any such imports, should carefully evaluate their supply chains and associated contractual relationships and obligations. Tariff-related costs and uncertainty may significantly impact supply chains across a wide range of sectors. Potentially impacted companies should explore possible solutions to minimize tariff impacts such as, where feasible, modifying their supply chains. We also recommend reviewing customer and supplier contracts to assess whether tariff costs can be allocated in whole or part to other parties.
Companies (and importers in particular) also should note that the 2025 Proclamations (i) require CBP to prioritize reviews of importer classifications of imported steel/aluminum and derivative steel/aluminum articles, and (ii) expressly direct CBP to assess maximum monetary penalties against importers determined to have misclassified such articles (without considering evidence of any mitigating factors).
This is a rapidly evolving landscape - we advise considering the precautionary steps laid out above, and continuing to carefully monitor President Trump’s ongoing tariff announcements for any additional developments.
Footnotes
1 “Derivative” (i.e., downstream manufactured) steel articles subject to Section 232 tariffs are identified in Annex II to Proclamation 9980 of January 24, 2020.
2 “Derivative” (i.e., downstream manufactured) aluminum articles subject to Section 232 tariffs are identified in Annex I to Proclamation 9980 of January 24, 2020.
3 18 U.S.C. § 1862(b)(1)(A)
4 See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 1862.
5 Relevant prior proclamations are expressly identified in the 2025 Proclamations.
6 For more information regarding Section 232 and its historical invocation, see “Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act,” Congressional Research Service, Apr. 1, 2022.
7 Specifically, the 2025 Proclamations (with effect as of March 12, 2025) rescind language from prior proclamations providing: (i) duty exemptions for steel and aluminum imports from Australia, Canada, and Mexico; and (ii) various tariff rate quotas and/or absolute quota measures in place of duties on steel and/or aluminum from Argentina, Brazil, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
8 As an exception, imports of aluminum from Russia are subject to a 200 percent duty rate. See Proclamation 10522 of February 24, 2023.
9 The 2025 Proclamations also provide that duties on derivative steel or derivative aluminum articles that are not identified in Chapter 76 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (the HTSUS) shall only become effective upon public notification by the Secretary of Commerce that adequate systems are in place to fully, efficiently, and expediently process and collect tariff revenue for covered articles.