President Trump has authorized additional Section 232 tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products, beginning on February 8. The additional duties are being implemented after the Secretary of Commerce announced a surge in imports of steel and aluminum derivatives in an effort by foreign producers to circumvent the duties imposed on aluminum and steel in March 2018.
The new duties will be applied as follows:
- an additional 10% tariff on finished aluminum products will apply to imports from all countries except Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico
- an additional 25% tariff on finished steel products will apply to imports from all countries except Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea
The duties shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. EST on February 8, 2020.
Aluminum Articles Subject to Additional Section 232 Duties of 10%
Contained in Annex I*
| Subheading | Description |
| 7614.10.50 | Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing fitted with fittings or made up into articles |
| 7614.90.20 | Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing comprising electrical conductors, not fitted with fittings or made up into articles |
| 7614.90.40 | Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing not comprising electrical conductors, not fitted with fittings or made up into articles |
| 7614.90.50 | Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing fitted with fittings or made up into articles |
| 8708.10.30 | Bumper stampings of aluminum, the foregoing comprising parts and accessories of the motor 3 vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 |
| 8708.29.21 | Body stampings of aluminum, for tractors suitable for agricultural use |
*Products from Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico are excluded from the additional 10% duties on aluminum derivatives.
Steel or Iron Articles Subject to Additional Section 232 Duties of 25%
Contained in Annex II**
| Subheading | Description |
| 7317.00.30 | Nails, tacks (other than thumb tacks), drawing pins, corrugated nails, staples (other than those of heading 8305) and similar articles, of iron or steel, whether or not with heads of other material (excluding such articles with heads of copper), suitable for use in powder-actuated hand tools, threaded |
| 7317.00.5503, 7317.00.5505, 7317.00.5507, 7317.00.5560, 7317.00.5580 or 7317.00.6560 | Nails, tacks (other than thumb tacks), drawing pins, corrugated nails, staples (other than those of heading 8305) and similar articles, of iron or steel, whether or not with heads of other material (excluding such articles with heads of copper), of one piece construction, whether or not made of round wire.
NOTE: Does not apply to other statistical reporting numbers of subheadings 7317.00.55 and 7317.00.65 |
| 8708.10.30 | Bumper stampings of steel, the foregoing comprising parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 |
| 8708.29.21 | Body stampings of steel, for tractors suitable for agricultural use |
**Products from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea are excluded from the additional 25% duties on steel and iron derivatives.
The new duties will only be assessed on products classified as a “derivative” of an aluminum or steel article if all of the conditions below are present:
- The aluminum or steel article represents, on average, two-thirds or more of the total cost of materials of the derivative article;
- The import volumes of such derivative article increased year-to-year since June 1,2018, following the imposition of the Section 232 duties, in comparison to import volumes of such derivative article during the 2 preceding years; and
- Import volumes of such derivative article following the imposition of the tariffs exceeded the 4 percent average increase in the total volume of goods imported into the United States during the same period since June 1, 2018.
No claim for entry or for any duty exemption or reduction shall be allowed for the derivative aluminum or steel products, and no drawback shall be available with respect to the additional Section 232 duties imposed.
Imports of Steel and Aluminum Products Surge in 2019
In a formal proclamation issued on January 24, President Trump said “Although imports of aluminum articles and steel articles have declined since the imposition of the tariffs and quotas, the Secretary [of Commerce] has informed me that imports of certain derivatives of aluminum articles and imports of certain derivatives of steel articles have significantly increased since the imposition of the tariffs and quotas.” In 2019 import volumes of steel derivatives increased 23% compared to 2017, while imports of aluminum derivatives increased 127% over the same period. “The net effect of the increase of imports of these derivatives has been to erode the customer base for U.S. producers of aluminum and steel and undermine the purpose of the proclamations adjusting imports of aluminum and steel articles to remove the threatened impairment of the national security.”
The President went on to say, “It is the Secretary’s assessment that foreign producers of these derivative articles have increased shipments of such articles to the United States to circumvent the duties on aluminum articles and steel articles imposed in Proclamation 9704 and Proclamation 9705, and that imports of these derivative articles threaten to undermine the actions taken to address the risk to the national security of the United States… I have concluded that it is necessary and appropriate in light of our national security interests to adjust the tariffs imposed by previous proclamations to apply to the derivatives of aluminum articles and steel articles.”
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the additional section 232 tariffs, please feel free to contact a member of our Compliance Department at compliance@oceanair.net.
