Trump Administration Adjusts Section 232 Tariffs for Steel, Aluminum, Copper, and Sets Tariffs for Pharmaceutical Imports
President Trump on Thursday, April 2, signed a proclamation which adjusts the steel, aluminum, and copper Section 232 tariffs, as well as an executive order for pharmaceutical import tariffs.
Specifically, according to a White House fact sheet, the proclamation “defines the way that tariffs are assessed, ensuring that they reflect the full value of imported steel, aluminum, and copper products—not an artificially low foreign price.”
The proclamation also establishes rules for calculating Section 232 metals tariffs:
- Articles made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper will pay a flat 50% on their full value — for example, steel coils and aluminum sheet.
- Derivative articles substantially made of steel, aluminum, or copper will pay a flat 25% on their full value.
- Certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment will pay 15% through 2027, to accelerate the massive industrial base buildout currently underway across the United States.
- Products made abroad but entirely with American steel, aluminum, and copper will be subject to lower tariffs of 10%.
- Products made of 15% or less steel, aluminum, or copper will no longer be subject to Section 232 metals tariffs.
The Trump administration said the new Section 232 tariff rates for steel, aluminum and copper will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on April 6. See Annexes I-A, I-B, II, III & IV for more details.
In his executive order, President Trump said under Section 232 that his administration will impose a 100% tariff on patented pharmaceutical products and ingredients. The tariffs will take effect in 120 days for certain large companies, and 180 days for smaller companies.
However, if a pharmaceutical product is from the European Union, Japan, Korea, or Switzerland and Liechtenstein, a 15% tariff will apply. If a pharmaceutical product is from the United Kingdom, a lower tariff will apply, subject to the recently concluded UK pharmaceutical agreement.
For companies that enter into Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing agreements with the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department and onshoring agreements with the Commerce Department, a 0% tariff will apply through Jan. 20, 2029, according to the EO. For companies that only enter into onshoring agreements with the Department of Commerce, a 20% tariff will apply. The Commerce Department and HHS will provide pathways for companies to enter into onshoring and MFN pricing deals with the U.S. Government, according to a White House fact sheet accompanying the EO.
“The Proclamation establishes strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, including external audits and tariff increases on future and past imports,” the fact sheet added.