US Tariffs Legal Challenges and American laws in Economic Trade and tariff tax legislation as government policy and import export agreements as justice scale political economic policies.
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On June 1, 2026, President Trump issued a proclamation reducing tariff rates on certain agricultural equipment, mobile industrial equipment and machinery, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) equipment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (“Section 232”). In the same proclamation, President Trump also added aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks to the list of aluminum and steel derivative products subject to Section 232 tariffs.

Both actions take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on June 8, 2026. At the time of this posting, the proclamation had not yet been published in the Federal Register.

Agricultural and HVAC Equipment

Per the proclamation, tariffs on agricultural and HVAC equipment listed in Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) subheadings now added to Annex III will be reduced from 25% to 15% through December 31, 2027.

Mobile Industrial Equipment and Machinery

The proclamation also reduced tariffs on certain mobile industrial equipment and machinery that qualify for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) treatment or that are imported from countries the U.S. has reached trade deals with. The HTSUS subheadings for mobile industrial equipment and machinery subject to the tariff reduction are identified in Annex I-C, and the tariff reductions similarly apply through December 31, 2027.

For USMCA-qualifying products, a 25% tariff will apply only to the non-U.S. content of the product. However, the total tariffs applicable under Section 232 cannot be below 15%. The proclamation also indicates CBP will issue further guidance regarding how to assess “U.S. content” for purposes of this provision.

For mobile industrial equipment and machinery identified in Annex I-C and imported from Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, or European Union, the maximum applicable tariff will not exceed 15%, inclusive of Section 232 and most-favored nation (“MFN”) tariffs.

If none of the above reductions apply, the imported article will be subject to the standard 25% 232 tariff on derivative items or a 10% tariff if the article is produced entirely with U.S. steel or aluminum. Further, goods will now be considered produced entirely of steel or aluminum (or copper) if at least 85% of the weight of the aluminum, steel, and copper of the product was melted and poured in the U.S. (or for copper, smelted and cast in the U.S). The previous threshold had been 95%.

Aluminum Lithographic Plates and Steel Racks

Finally, the proclamation added aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks to the list of aluminum and steel derivative products subject to 25% Section 232 tariffs. The HTS subheadings for affected articles are identified in Annex I-B.

The Husch Blackwell International Trade and Supply Chain team will continue to monitor and provide updates on this investigation as they become available. If you have company specific questions or concerns, please contact your Husch Blackwell attorney.