Trump Administration Expands Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Effective March 12, 2025

President Trump signed two Executive Orders on Monday, February 10, 2025, expanding Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Key Developments:

• Changes to Section 232 tariffs go into effect March 12, 2025, at 12:01 a.m.

• Both steel and aluminum will be subject to a 25% tariff (an increase from 10% for aluminum).

• Country-specific exemptions, quotas, tariff-rate quotas, and General Approved Exclusions are revoked, and product-specific exclusions will be phased out.

• Additional derivative products will be subject to the tariffs, with more likely to be added in the future.

President Trump’s Executive Orders on steel and aluminum tariffs expand the Section 232 tariffs his administration previously imposed in 2018. Tariffs for aluminum and derivative aluminum products will rise from 10% to 25% for all countries except Russia, from which applicable exports will be subject to a 200% duty rate.

Aside from the special rate for Russian exported aluminum, all other countries will be subject to the same tariff rates, and all national exemptions and negotiated alternatives will be voided when the new tariffs go into effect. All product specific exemptions will also be terminated, as will the product-specific exclusion application process. As of February 10, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce was directed to cease consideration of any new product exclusions requests, as well as any renewals of previously granted requests. Product exclusions already in effect will remain effective until they expire or until the specified excluded product import volume is met, whichever comes first.

The Executive Orders also expand the list of steel and aluminum derivatives that will be subject to the 25% tariff and requires the Department of Commerce to create a new process for adding more types of downstream products based on domestic importer requests. Specifically, the Executive Orders direct the Secretary of Commerce to create a process whereby producers of steel or aluminum derivative products (or industry associations representing such producers) can request the inclusion of additional derivative products among the list of those subject to tariffs. Any request must establish that an increase in the imports of that product threaten national security or undermine the objectives of the Secretary’s previous reports on the effect of steel and aluminum imports.

The Executive Orders did make one new exemption to exclude imports of steel and aluminum derivates that were processed outside the U.S. using steel and/or aluminum that was melted and poured or smelted and cast in the U.S. Derivatives subject to the Section 232 tariffs are detailed in the annexes included in the Executive orders.

Learn more about the details of this announcement, including the listings (by HTS number) of specified aluminum and steel derivatives subject to the tariffs, from these sources:

• Executive Order: Adjusting Imports of Aluminum into the United States
• Executive Order: Adjusting Imports of Steel into the United States

Contact Jay Cho, Director of Aprio’s Customs and Tariffs practice, or your Aprio advisor with any questions about how this alert impacts you.