Who actually pays a tariff
The importer of record pays the duty to Customs at the border; who ultimately bears the cost depends on contracts, supply chains, and how much prices can move.
Priya Vaithilingam
Steel tariffs sit at 50 percent a year on
Section 232 steel and aluminum duties doubled to 50 percent in June 2025 and still cover imports that fed auto plants, appliances, and construction.
Priya VaithilingamAnalysis & Opinion
Small packages lose their tariff exemption
A rule that let low-value imports skip duties for a century is gone, and postal carriers are still adjusting to the paperwork.
How a product gets added to steel tariffs
How antidumping duties actually get set
A single trade petition triggers two separate federal reviews, and only one of them decides the tariff rate.
How a Section 232 tariff gets imposed
Manufacturing
More in Manufacturing →
How a trade case moves from petition to duty
Owen BlackwoodTrump Cuts Steel Tariffs To 25%
A June proclamation halved the general steel and aluminum tariff rate to 25% from 50%, with lower rates for some allies and a 10% rate for mostly U.S.-origin metal, the Federal Register shows.
Owen BlackwoodTrade
More in Trade →Two agencies decide every US dumping case
Commerce sets the margin, the International Trade Commission sets the injury finding, and the statutory clock between them decides when importers start paying.
Priya Vaithilingam