On Monday, February 10, 2025, President Trump signed Proclamations imposing 25 percent on all imports of steel and increasing the duty rate from 10 to 25 percent for all imports of aluminum into the United States pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862). Drawback will not be available with respect to duties imposed by these Proclamations. Further, the Proclamations specifically instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “prioritize reviews of the classification of imported [steel or aluminum] articles and derivative [steel or aluminum] articles and, in the event that it discovers misclassification resulting in loss of revenue” and to “consider promptly notify[ing] the Secretary [of Commerce] regarding evidence of any efforts to evade payment of the ad valorem duties . . . .”
The Proclamations also remove previously granted General Approved Exclusions (“GAEs”) and eliminate all product-specific exclusions previously granted under the process established during the first Trump Administration. GAEs will be terminated as of March 12, 2025. Granted product exclusions will remain effective until their expiration date or until excluded product volume is imported, whichever occurs first.
The Proclamations further revoke all country-specific exemptions for Canada, Mexico Australia, and Ukraine from the existing Section 232 duties and remove quotas on imports from Argentina, Brazil, and Korea. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan will no longer be accorded tariff-rate quota regimes. These revocations are effective for any entries made on or after 12:01 am on March 12, 2025.
In addition, the Proclamations impose Section 232 duties on additional downstream “derivative” products. The rate of duty for derivative products will be 25 percent for imports from all countries except Russia. Derivative articles incorporating Russian primary aluminum will be subject to a duty rate of 200 percent. According to media reports, the Administration has indicated that fabricated structural steel and pre-stressed concrete strand will be among the steel products covered. The specific rates of duty and products added to the Section 232 duties will be included in the annexes to the version of the Proclamations published in the Federal Register and will be effective for entries made on or after 12:01 am on March 12, 2025. However, both Proclamations also state that the imposition of Section 232 duties on certain derivative products will be effective only upon public notification by the Secretary of Commerce that adequate systems are in place to fully, efficiently, and expeditiously process and collect tariff revenue for covered articles. The Proclamations require that within 90 days the Secretary of Commerce will establish a process for adding further derivative products to the Annexes. In addition, the process will provide for the inclusion of additional steel and aluminum derivative products upon request by a producer in the United States or an industry association representing one or more producers and subsequent determination by the Secretary regarding whether or not to include such derivative products.
The Husch Blackwell International Trade team is monitoring developments closely and will report back with further details, including analysis of any substantive announcements made, as they emerge.