The federal government's baseline tariff on imported steel and aluminum dropped to 25% on June 8, 2026, half the 50% rate that had applied since April. The change comes from a presidential proclamation published in the Federal Register. It resets what manufacturers pay on imported metal inputs through the end of 2027.
What is the tariff rate right now?
The general rate is 25% ad valorem on steel and aluminum articles, effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 8, 2026, under Proclamation 11032. It replaced a 50% rate that Proclamation 11021 had set in April 2026, which applied duty to a product's full customs value rather than only its metal content.
Both proclamations were issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the law that lets a president adjust tariffs based on a national-security review of imports.
Why did the rate change twice this year?
Proclamation 11021 took effect April 6, 2026, setting a 50% primary duty on aluminum, steel and most copper articles, calculated on the full customs value of the imported product regardless of how much metal it actually contained. That proclamation also ended a rolling process for adding new derivative products and gave the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative joint authority to add products as needed, with a required 90-day status review.
Proclamation 11032, signed June 1, 2026 and published June 4, lowered the general steel and aluminum rate to 25% while keeping the full-customs-value approach. It also widened the list of derivative products covered, adding items including aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks, and tightened the domestic-content threshold for exemption: a metal product must now be at least 85% domestic by weight to qualify, down from a 95% threshold under the earlier order.
Which countries pay lower rates?
Several trading partners and product categories get reduced rates under Proclamation 11032. The table below summarizes the tiers as published in the Federal Register.
| Category | Rate |
|---|---|
| General steel and aluminum articles | 25% ad valorem |
| Argentina, Ecuador, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, UK, EU member states | Column 1 duty rates, 15% minimum |
| Products at least 85% domestic-origin metal by weight | 10% |
| Canada and Mexico, USMCA-qualified goods | 25% on non-U.S. content, 15% minimum effective duty |
| Russian-origin aluminum | 200%, continued under the prior prohibition-level rate |
How is copper treated differently?
Copper still runs on the tiered structure Proclamation 11021 set in April: a 50% primary rate on most copper products and certain derivative articles, a 25% reduced rate for selected copper items, and a 10% preferential rate for derivative articles made entirely of U.S.-smelted or U.S.-cast metal. The Federal Register summary of the June proclamation describes changes to the aluminum and steel rate; it does not describe a change to copper's separate tiers.
Products from the UK, EU, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Canada that use domestically sourced metal can also claim duty drawback under Proclamation 11021, meaning importers may recover part of the tariff paid if they document U.S.-origin content.
Is this showing up in manufacturing jobs?
Manufacturing employment showed little change in July 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Aug. 7, 2026 employment situation report. The sector added 5,000 jobs in July, seasonally adjusted, after adding 11,000 in June, according to the same report. Both months point to modest, steady gains rather than a sharp move tied to the tariff changes.
BLS did not attribute the employment figures to tariff policy; the report presents them as part of the broader monthly jobs count across industries.
Why does Section 232 give a president this power?
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 lets the president adjust imports, including through tariffs, once an underlying national-security finding on a category of imports is in place. Both 2026 proclamations cite that authority rather than any new legislation, which is why the administration could revise the rate twice within a few months instead of starting a new process each time.
The 90-day status reviews required under the April proclamation give the administration a recurring checkpoint built into the order itself to adjust rates again.
What does this mean for manufacturers buying metal?
A manufacturer's actual duty bill now depends on three questions: where the metal was produced, whether the finished product appears on the expanded derivative-product list, and whether the item clears the 85% domestic-metal-by-weight threshold for the 10% preferential rate. Producers of goods newly added as derivatives, such as aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks, moved from paying no metal-specific duty to paying the applicable tariff tier starting June 8, 2026.
Importers using metal from the UK, EU, Japan, South Korea, Mexico or Canada can pursue duty drawback under Proclamation 11021 if they can document that the metal content was sourced domestically, potentially recovering part of what they paid. None of the Federal Register text reviewed here estimates how much of the tariff cost gets passed on to buyers of finished manufactured goods; that figure would need to come from a named industry or research source, not asserted as fact here.
What should manufacturers watch next?
The June proclamation requires continued government monitoring of whether the tariffs remain necessary, a process carried over from the April order's 90-day review requirement. Manufacturers that import steel, aluminum or copper face a live set of variables: the country of origin, whether a product is finished or a listed derivative, and whether its metal content clears the 85% domestic-weight bar for the reduced rate.
The current rate structure runs through Dec. 31, 2027, under Proclamation 11032, though the two rate changes already made in 2026 show the administration has revised the tariffs before that date arrives.
For a related manufacturing perspective, read Economic Benefits of a Sustainable Agricultural Revolution.
For more context, read How a trade case moves from petition to duty.
For more context, read sustainable.
For more context, read The Importance of Sustainability in Agriculture.