The Trump administration on Friday significantly widened the scope of its 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, adding hundreds of derivative products to the list of goods subject to the levies.
In a notice published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said that 407 additional product codes have been incorporated into the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. These items, which include derivative products containing steel and aluminum, will now be subject to the higher duties beginning August 18.
The move means the steel and aluminum content of these products will attract the 50 per cent tariffs imposed under earlier presidential orders, while any non-metal content will be taxed at prevailing tariff rates for the country of origin.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, former U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at further actions. He said new announcements would soon follow on both steel tariffs and possible levies on semiconductor imports.
The expansion marks another escalation in the administration’s protectionist trade agenda, which has drawn sharp reactions from U.S. trading partners and industries reliant on steel and technology imports.