Across-the-board 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum

Overview

President Donald Trump signed proclamations on February 10, 2025 to impose 25-percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum into the US from all countries without exception, rolling back exemptions for Canada, Mexico, the EU, UK, Japan, South Korea, and other allied nations.

The proclamations increase the tariff rate on aluminum to 25 percent from the previous 10-percent rate that President Trump enacted on June 1, 2018, and reinstate the 25-percent tariffs on steel that had previously been authorized but were subsequently relaxed for many countries by both the Trump and Biden Administrations. Other product-specific tariff exclusions for both metals will also be eliminated.

The tariffs, which are being imposed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, will take effect on March 12, 2025.

In addition to the new tariffs on key metals, President Trump issued a February 13 memorandum directing a rapid review process to determine country-specific “reciprocal tariffs” for US trading partners based on each partner’s perceived unfair trade and economic practices. See our summary and client alert on that action here.

Sweeping expansion of Section 232 tariffs

Leaving little doubt about the scope and reach of the new steel and aluminum tariff regime, President Trump told reporters, “It’s 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions. That’s all countries, no matter where it comes from, all countries.”

Unlike the recent tariff threats on Canada and Mexico that were subsequently paused following 11th-hour agreements with those countries over specific non-trade policy differences, the steel and aluminum tariffs appear grounded in the long-held view of President Trump and his economic advisors that the global trading system is fundamentally unfair to the US because of the way other countries subsidize their industries, discriminate against American products, or maintain ongoing trade surpluses with the US.

Members of President Trump’s economic team and some supportive members of Congress cite these concerns as part of a pattern of “structural” issues with the global trading system. They distinguish between these structural tariffs, which are longer term, and “punitive” tariffs that are used as a foreign policy tool to force action on issues such as immigration or fentanyl smuggling. Furthermore, President Trump has cited tariffs as a way to raise revenue to, at least in theory, "offset" tax cuts that the administration is seeking to move through Congress (although it remains unclear whether this is possible).

Building off Trump 1.0 tariffs

The presidential proclamations provide a history of the tariffs that were enacted in the first Trump Administration in 2018. As required under Section 232, the Commerce Secretary conducted investigations and rendered his assessment that steel and aluminum articles are “being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.”

Based on these findings, in June of 2018 President Trump imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel articles and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum articles imported from most countries. The proclamation left the door open for countries that have a security relationship with the US to negotiate modifications or removals of these restrictions.
As the new proclamation enumerates, President Trump subsequently reached agreements with a number of countries to lift or relax the tariffs on steel products and derivatives. In the following years, President Joe Biden implemented additional tariff exclusions.

Findings of “surges” in steel and aluminum imports drive new measures

The new proclamation on steel imports states that the initial 25-percent tariff has been effective in reducing imports and encouraging investment and expansion of the US industry. However, the proclamation goes on to state that imports from countries that received exemptions and the global industry’s excess capacity have increased in recent years, while exclusions for steel articles that the domestic industry can produce have remained in place. In particular, exports of steel from China have surged, displacing production in other countries and forcing them to export greater volumes of steel and derivative steel articles to the US. Based on these determinations, the steel proclamation terminates the product exclusion process due to what President Trump finds to be “overly broad exclusions,” as well as “the administrative burden that the process has created.”

Along these same lines, the new proclamation on aluminum imports cites Section 232 investigations that have found that “aluminum imports into the United States have continued at unacceptable levels as the global aluminum excess capacity crisis continues” and that the product and country exclusions have been used by foreign producers, including those from China, to circumvent the tariff and undermine the purpose of the original action. The proclamation states that the original 10-percent tariff rate is not high enough to address the national security threat posed by aluminum imports, raises it to 25 percent, and eliminates associated exceptions.

Exclusions and deadlines

Beginning March 12, 2025, previously negotiated country-specific exemptions and product exclusion will be revoked under the new proclamations. Countries that received exemptions will now be subject to a 25-percent tariff on their steel and aluminum exports to the US.

Both the steel and aluminum presidential directives state that, “Granted product exclusions shall remain effective until their expiration date or until excluded product volume is imported, whichever occurs first.” Furthermore, the Commerce Secretary is directed to terminate all existing generally approved exclusions on March 12, 2025.

The proclamation also directs the Commerce Secretary to establish a process for including additional derivative steel and aluminum articles within 90 days.

Exceptions are provided for derivative steel products processed in another country that were melted and poured in the US. The same goes for derivative aluminum products processed in another country that were smelted and cast in the US.

In addition to any derivative steel and aluminum products that the Commerce Secretary adds, the process will allow for US steel and aluminum producers, as well as industry associations representing them, to request the inclusion of additional derivative articles if they can demonstrate that rising imports of these products also threaten US national security. The Commerce Secretary would have 60 days to make a determination on these requests for expanded tariff protections.

Please contact the authors or your DLA Piper relationship partner with any questions.