Metal scrap left off tariff list

The United States has excluded recycled steel and aluminium from the swathe of import tariffs imposed since Donald Trump became president in January.

On 10 February, the administration restored Section 232 tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium from all countries to a level of 25% from 4 March.

At the time, the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) said there were no indications that recycled steel (HTS 7204) or aluminium (HTS 7602) were included in the tariffs and an updated briefing to members reveals the full content of the presidential proclamations.

Exclusions

‘With the public release of the annexes for steel and aluminium, recycled steel and recycled aluminium products remain excluded from these Section 232 tariffs,’ the briefing says. ‘These materials had been excluded when the investigation was initiated in 2017 and the tariffs first imposed in 2018 and based on these modifications to the programme, will continue to be excluded from the scope of the tariffs.’

The development was expected because the proclamations were continuations of actions from Trump’s first term as president which did not mention modifications to material inputs, such as recycled steel or aluminium.