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US tariffs · HTSUS 2026 Rev. 22

Section 232 on steel, aluminum and copper products: 50%, 25% or none — how to find your rate (2026)

Whether a product pays the Section 232 metals duty, and how much, is not a question of how much metal it looks like it contains. It turns on one thing first: which of the eleven lists in chapter 99, U.S. note 16(c) names its HTSUS line. The list sets the heading, the heading sets the rate, and the country of origin can then lower it. This guide walks through that sorting with the legal text and 16 lines priced by our engine.

Updated 10 November 2026 · Sources: USITC HTSUS 2026 Revision 22 (in force 30 October 2026), Proclamations 11021 and 11032 · Engine figures checked 10 November 2026

50%

Lists (i)–(v)

Heading 9903.82.02: steel, aluminum and copper articles, some derivatives

25%

Lists (vi)–(viii), (xi)

Heading 9903.82.09: derivative articles, mobile equipment

15%

Lists (ix)–(x)

Heading 9903.82.10: MFN + Section 232 together, to 31 Dec 2027

None

No list, or under 15% metal

Forced-labor tariff applies instead for most origins

Rates are the additional Section 232 duty for an origin with no special rate. HTSUS Rev. 22, ch. 99, U.S. note 16(c) and headings 9903.82.02, 9903.82.09 and 9903.82.10, read 10 November 2026.

The rule: the list decides, and the duty hits the full value

U.S. note 16 to chapter 99 sets up headings 9903.82.02 to 9903.82.26 for articles of aluminum, steel and copper and their derivatives. Subdivision (c) applies those headings to "the full customs value of articles classifiable in the provisions of the HTSUS enumerated in the following lists", and then gives eleven lists, each titled with its metal. A line that none of the lists names is outside the programme. Subdivision (a) makes the headings mutually exclusive, so an article falls under one of them at most.

The full-value rule comes from Proclamation 11021 of 2 April 2026 (91 FR 18201). For goods entered from 12:01 a.m. EDT on 6 April 2026, clause (1) applies the duty to the full customs value of the imported product "regardless of metal content". A $1,000 refrigerator on list (vii) pays 25% of $1,000, not 25% of the value of its steel. Clause (9) adds that a good listed for more than one metal is charged once.

Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are not displaced: note 16(b) keeps them in force, and it also says the metals duty is collected on top of any free-trade-agreement rate. That is why USMCA, KORUS or any other preference does not remove it.

The eleven lists in note 16(c)

Each list's title names the metal that counts for the 15% weight test. The rate column is the general rate; the UK column applies only to UK goods that meet the melt-and-pour rule below.

ListTitle and typical goodsEntriesHeadingRateUK
(i)Articles of aluminumUnwrought aluminum, bars and profiles, wire, plate and sheet, foil, tubes and fittings (7601, 7604–7609)99903.82.0250%25%
(ii)Derivative aluminum articlesAluminum structures, casks and cans, gas containers, stranded wire (mainly 7610–7616)179903.82.0250%25%
(iii)Articles of steelSemi-finished and flat-rolled steel, bars, rods, wire, rails, tubes and pipes (7206–7229, 7301–7306)399903.82.0250%25%
(iv)Derivative steel articlesTube fittings, structures, tanks, wire products, chain, nails, screws and bolts, springs (mainly ch. 73)1399903.82.0250%25%
(v)Articles of copperCopper powders, bars, wire, plate, foil, tubes, fittings, fasteners and other copper articles (7406–7419)769903.82.0250%50% (no UK rate for copper)
(vi)Derivative aluminum articlesAluminum kitchenware (7615), base-metal fittings (ch. 83), machines and parts in ch. 84, 85 and 871019903.82.0925%15%
(vii)Derivative steel articlesStoves, sinks and kitchenware (7321–7324), tools (ch. 82), appliances and machinery (ch. 84–85), railway goods (ch. 86), vehicle parts (ch. 87), prefabricated buildings (ch. 94)2409903.82.0925%15%
(viii)Articles of copperInsulated copper conductors (8544.42, 8544.49.10)49903.82.0925%25% (no UK rate for copper)
(ix)Derivative aluminum articlesFixed industrial equipment: large transformers (8504.34) and transformer parts, air-conditioner parts189903.82.10 / .1115% with MFN15% with MFN
(x)Derivative steel articlesFixed industrial and agricultural equipment: split air conditioners, furnace parts, conveyors and lifting machinery, soil and harvesting machinery, some tractor lines (8701)699903.82.10 / .1115% with MFN15% with MFN
(xi)Derivative steel articlesMobile industrial equipment: forklifts (8427), bulldozers, graders, excavators and loaders (8429), crane lorries, some tractor lines (8701)289903.82.0925%15% with MFN (9903.82.22)

Source: HTSUS 2026 Rev. 22, ch. 99, U.S. note 16(c) and (d), headings 9903.82.02–9903.82.22, read 10 November 2026. "Entries" counts the provisions each list names (a heading, subheading or statistical line), as read from the Rev. 22 text by our data build. "15% with MFN" means MFN and Section 232 together come to 15%; a line whose MFN rate is already 15% or more pays nothing extra (heading 9903.82.11).

50%, 25% and 15%: what each tier covers

50%, lists (i)–(v), heading 9903.82.02. Proclamation 11021 clause (2) puts all aluminum and steel articles, most copper articles and certain derivatives (its Annex I-A) at 50%. "Derivative" does not mean 25%: steel bolts, chain, wire products and structures on list (iv) pay 50%, the same as the steel coil they are made from.

25%, lists (vi)–(viii) and (xi), heading 9903.82.09. Clause (3) sets 25% for copper articles and aluminum and steel derivatives in Annex I-B: household articles, stoves, appliances, many machines and parts, and insulated copper cable. Mobile industrial equipment on list (xi), such as forklifts, excavators and loaders, was added at 25% by Proclamation 11032 of 1 June 2026 (91 FR 34085), from 8 June 2026.

15% with MFN, lists (ix)–(x), heading 9903.82.10. Note 16(f) and Proclamation 11021 clause (5) set the Section 232 duty on fixed industrial and agricultural equipment (its Annex III) at whatever brings it and the column 1 rate to 15%. This applies to every origin, not only to deal partners; the exceptions are Russia and the other countries in general note 3(b), which pay 25% (heading 9903.82.12). A German transformer with a 1.6% MFN rate pays 13.4% under Section 232, 15% in all.

Dated: the 15% treatment of lists (ix), (x) and (xi) runs until 11:59 p.m. EST on 31 December 2027. From 1 January 2028 those products move to the clause (3) rates (generally 25%) under Proclamation 11021 clause (7) and Proclamation 11032 clause (3)(a), unless a later proclamation changes it.

The 15% metal-weight rule outside chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76

The lists reach well beyond the metal chapters: list (vii) alone names lines in chapters 73, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 94. For a listed article that is not in chapter 72, 73, 74 or 76, note 16(c) says the metals headings "only apply where the weight of the applicable metal is at least 15 percent of the weight of the imported article". The applicable metal is the one in the list's title. Where a line sits on two lists, as insulated cable 8544.42.90 does on (vi) aluminum and (viii) copper, the weights of both metals are added together.

Below 15%, the article goes under heading 9903.82.03 and pays no Section 232 metals duty. An article on a list that contains no aluminum, steel or copper at all goes under 9903.82.01, also with no duty. Inside chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76 there is no weight test: a listed line pays.

One consequence is easy to miss. The forced-labor tariff's exemption for metals goods, note 52(f)(1), names headings 9903.82.02 and 9903.82.04–9903.82.26, not 9903.82.03. By our reading of the notes, an article that escapes Section 232 on the weight test therefore pays the forced-labor tariff instead, unless its line is exempt on other grounds. An HTS code does not carry weight, so our calculator charges the Section 232 rate on a listed line and says the weight test applies.

Origin rules: the UK, deal partners, Canada and Mexico, Russia

  • United Kingdom. Heading 9903.82.04 charges 25% on lists (i)–(iv) and heading 9903.82.05 charges 15% on lists (vi)–(vii), for UK goods in which at least 95% of the aluminum was smelted or most recently cast in the UK, or at least 95% of the steel was melted and poured there (note 16(d)). Copper (lists (v) and (viii)) has no UK rate. On lists (ix)–(xi) UK goods pay 15% with MFN, like the deal partners.
  • Deal partners, list (xi) only. Heading 9903.82.22 gives mobile industrial equipment from Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and EU member states a 15% total with MFN, through 31 December 2027 (Proclamation 11032 clause (2)(b)). There is no EU, Japanese or Korean rate on lists (i)–(viii): German aluminum sheet pays 50%.
  • Canada and Mexico. No general exemption: note 16(b) collects the duty on top of the USMCA rate. Three narrow reliefs exist. List (xi) goods that qualify for USMCA pay 25% only on their non-U.S. content and on U.S. content above 40% of the value (note 16(j), headings 9903.82.20/.21). Limited quantities of Canadian- or Mexican-melted steel and smelted aluminum that Commerce authorizes for suppliers of U.S. vehicle makers pay 25% (note 16(h) and (i), headings 9903.82.18/.19). Lists (ix)–(x) are 15% in all with or without USMCA. Canadian goods on the Section 338 list also pay that 50% on top: see our Section 338 checker.
  • Russia. Aluminum articles and derivatives that are Russian or contain Russian-smelted or cast aluminum pay 200% (Proclamation 11021 clause (8)).
  • U.S. metal. Derivatives whose aluminum, steel or copper was at least 85% smelted, cast, melted or poured in the United States enter under lower-rate headings (note 16(e), for example headings 9903.82.06–9903.82.08). The table below does not model that claim.

Sixteen lines across the lists, priced by the engine

Each row is one GET to our public tariff-check endpoint for the line and origin shown, run on 10 November 2026. Section 232 is the metals duty (or the bus duty in the last row); the forced-labor column shows when that tariff gives way to Section 232.

ProductHTSOriginMFNSection 301Forced-laborSection 232Total
Hot-rolled steel plate, over 10 mmList (iii), heading 9903.82.02. Section 301 note 31(b), heading 9903.91.01.7208.51.00China0%25%Exempt50%75%
Aluminum-alloy sheetList (i). There is no EU rate on lists (i)–(viii).7606.12.30Germany3%0%Exempt50%53%
Aluminum-alloy sheetUK rate, heading 9903.82.04.7606.12.30United Kingdom3%0%Exempt25%28%
Steel bolts with nuts or washersList (iv): a derivative at the 50% rate.7318.15.20Vietnam0%0%Exempt50%50%
Seamless refined-copper tubeList (v). USMCA-qualifying: 0% MFN, still 50%.7411.10.10Mexico1.5%0%Exempt50%51.5%
Stainless-steel kitchenwareList (vii), heading 9903.82.09. Section 301 List 4B is suspended.7323.93.00China2%0%Exempt25%27%
Stainless-steel kitchenwareUK derivative rate, heading 9903.82.05.7323.93.00United Kingdom2%0%Exempt15%17%
Aluminum cookwareList (vi).7615.10.71Vietnam3.1%0%Exempt25%28.1%
Insulated cable with connectors, up to 1,000 VLists (vi) and (viii): aluminum and copper weight counted together for the 15% test.8544.42.90India2.6%0%Exempt25%27.6%
Household refrigeratorList (vii), if steel is at least 15% of the weight. USMCA does not remove it.8418.21.00Mexico0%0%Exempt25%25%
Power transformer, over 500 kVAList (ix): MFN + Section 232 = 15% (heading 9903.82.10).8504.34.00Germany1.6%0%Exempt13.4%15%
Split-system air conditionerList (x). USMCA-qualifying goods also pay 15% in all.8415.10.90Mexico2.2%0%Exempt12.8%15%
Wheel-type front-end loaderList (xi): EU and other deal partners 15% all-in (heading 9903.82.22).8429.51.10Germany0%0%Exempt15%15%
Wheel-type front-end loaderList (xi), heading 9903.82.09; Section 301 List 1.8429.51.10China0%25%Exempt25%50%
Cast-iron cookware, not enameledOn no note 16(c) list, so the forced-labor tariff applies instead.7323.91.50Vietnam5.3%0%12.5%—17.8%
Diesel bus, 16 or more personsOn list (vii), but buses pay the 10% bus duty only. USMCA-qualifying: 10%.8702.10.31Mexico2%0%Exempt10%12%

Source: Zentria Flow tariff engine (HTSUS and the Chapter 99 notes), checked 10 November 2026. Percent of customs value for goods entered without a trade-agreement claim; excludes MPF, HMF and any anti-dumping or countervailing duty. Lines outside chapters 72–76 assume the listed metal is at least 15% of the weight; below that they pay no Section 232 duty. Check your own code in the tariff calculator.

How to find your rate, step by step

  1. 1

    Get the full 10-digit HTSUS code

    Note 16(c) names provisions at 4, 8 and 10 digits, so two lines under the same heading can sit on different lists. Self-contained window and wall air conditioners (8415.10.30) are on list (vii) at 25%; split systems (8415.10.60 and 8415.10.90) are on list (x) at 15% with MFN. Kitchen articles of stainless steel (7323.93.00) are on list (vii); the same articles of cast iron (7323.91 and 7323.92) are on no list.

  2. 2

    Find the list that names the line

    Search the eleven lists in chapter 99, U.S. note 16(c). The list decides the heading and the base rate: lists (i)–(v) 50% under 9903.82.02, lists (vi)–(viii) and (xi) 25% under 9903.82.09, lists (ix)–(x) a 15% total with MFN under 9903.82.10. A line on no list owes no Section 232 metals duty.

  3. 3

    Outside chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76, weigh the metal

    For a listed line in any other chapter, the duty applies only where the metal named in the list title is at least 15% of the article's weight. Below that, the article enters under 9903.82.03 with no Section 232 duty. A line on two lists adds the weights of both metals.

  4. 4

    Apply the origin rule

    The UK has its own rates for aluminum and steel. For list (xi) only, the EU and ten other partners pay 15% all-in. Canada and Mexico get no general exemption. Russian aluminum pays 200%.

  5. 5

    Check whether a vehicle programme takes over

    Passenger vehicles, light trucks and their listed parts (note 33), medium and heavy trucks, and buses (note 38) are not subject to the metals duty, even when their line is on a metals list.

  6. 6

    Add the layers that do stack

    MFN duty, China's Section 301 (including +25% under note 31(b)), Section 338 on Canadian goods, and any anti-dumping or countervailing duty all come on top. The forced-labor tariff does not: goods under the metals headings are exempt from it.

Worked example: steel bolts with nuts, 7318.15.20, from Vietnam. The line is on list (iv), chapter 73, so there is no weight test and the rate is 50% under 9903.82.02. Vietnam has no special rate, MFN is free, and the 12.5% forced-labor tariff does not apply. Total: 50% of the full customs value.

Lines on no list: the forced-labor tariff instead

The lists leave out a good deal of metal. List (iii) starts at heading 7206, so pig iron, ferroalloys and ferrous scrap (7201–7204) are outside it. List (v) starts at 7406, so copper mattes, anodes, cathodes, scrap and master alloys (7401–7405) are outside it. Kitchen and household articles of cast iron (7323.91 and 7323.92) are on no list either, while the stainless-steel and enameled-steel versions (7323.93 and 7323.94) are on list (vii).

Those goods pay the forced-labor Section 301 tariff that has applied since 24 July 2026, unless their line is on its exemption lists: 12.5% on top of MFN for China and Vietnam, 10% for India, the UK and non-USMCA goods from Mexico, and a 10% combined floor with MFN for the EU. In the engine on 10 November 2026, cast-iron cookware 7323.91.50 from Vietnam totals 17.8% (5.3% MFN plus 12.5%), against 28.1% for aluminum cookware 7615.10.71 from Vietnam, which is on list (vi). Check any line in the forced-labor tariff checker.

Vehicles: autos, trucks and buses do not stack with metals

Some vehicle lines are on the metals lists: diesel buses 8702.10.31 and 8702.10.61 are on list (vii), and several tractor lines (8701.30 and 8701.91–8701.95) are on lists (x) and (xi). The vehicle programmes take precedence:

  • Autos and auto parts (note 33). Passenger vehicles and light trucks (note 33(a)) and their parts under note 33(f) "shall not be subject to" the metals headings 9903.82.02 and 9903.82.04–9903.82.26. They pay the 25% autos duty, or the deal rate: brake parts 8708.30.50 from Germany total 15% in the engine on 10 November 2026, with no metals duty. A vehicle part that is not on the note 33 list can still be on a metals list (8708.99.81 is on list (vii)), and then it pays the metals duty.
  • Trucks and buses (note 38). Medium and heavy trucks pay 25% under heading 9903.74.01 and buses 10% under 9903.74.02, from 1 November 2025 (Proclamation 10984 of 17 October 2025). Note 38(a)(1) excludes medium- and heavy-duty vehicles from the metals headings, and CBP's guidance to the trade (CSMS #66665333) applies the same to buses. A diesel bus from Mexico therefore totals 12% (2% MFN plus 10%), not 2% + 10% + 25%.

China: Section 301 note 31(b) adds 25% on top

Chinese metal pays Section 232 and China's Section 301 together. Since 27 September 2024, U.S. note 31(b) and heading 9903.91.01 add 25% to 348 eight-digit lines from the four-year review (USTR, 89 FR 76581). Of those, 324 are steel (chapters 72 and 73) or aluminum (chapter 76); the rest are critical minerals and other metals. Hot-rolled plate 7208.51.00 from China: 0% MFN, 25% Section 301, 50% Section 232, 75% in all.

Other Chinese metal goods carry their List 1–4 rate instead: a front-end loader 8429.51.10 is on List 1 (25%) and totals 50% with the list (xi) duty; stainless kitchenware 7323.93.00 is on List 4B, which is suspended, so it totals 27%. The forced-labor tariff's 12.5% for China does not apply to goods under the metals headings. More in our China tariffs guide.

Key dates

  • 27 Sep 2024: China Section 301 +25% on note 31(b) lines (heading 9903.91.01).
  • 1 Nov 2025: Section 232 on medium and heavy trucks (25%) and buses (10%), Proclamation 10984.
  • 6 Apr 2026: Proclamation 11021: full customs value, the 50% / 25% / 15% tiers.
  • 8 Jun 2026: Proclamation 11032: mobile industrial equipment (list (xi)) and the 15% rate for its deal partners.
  • 30 Oct 2026: HTSUS 2026 Revision 22, the text this guide quotes.
  • 31 Dec 2027: end of the 15% treatment for lists (ix)–(xi).

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my product is subject to Section 232 steel, aluminum or copper duties?

Check whether its HTSUS line is named on one of the eleven lists in chapter 99, U.S. note 16(c) of HTSUS Revision 22 (in force since 30 October 2026). A line on no list owes no Section 232 metals duty. For a listed line outside chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76, the duty applies only if the listed metal is at least 15% of the article's weight.

When is the Section 232 rate 50% and when is it 25%?

Lines on note 16(c) lists (i)–(v), mostly basic steel, aluminum and copper articles and some derivatives such as steel bolts, pay 50% under heading 9903.82.02. Lists (vi)–(viii), derivative articles such as kitchenware, appliances and insulated copper cable, and list (xi), mobile industrial equipment, pay 25% under heading 9903.82.09. Lists (ix)–(x), fixed industrial and agricultural equipment, pay whatever brings MFN plus Section 232 to 15% (heading 9903.82.10), through 31 December 2027.

Is Section 232 charged on the full value or only on the metal content?

On the full customs value. Proclamation 11021 (91 FR 18201) applies the duty to the full customs value regardless of metal content for goods entered from 12:01 a.m. EDT on 6 April 2026. Metal weight still matters in one way: outside chapters 72, 73, 74 and 76 it decides whether the duty applies at all (the 15% rule).

Which countries pay a lower Section 232 metals rate?

The UK pays 25% on lists (i)–(iv) and 15% on lists (vi)–(vii) when at least 95% of the aluminum or steel was smelted, cast, melted or poured in the UK (note 16(d)); copper has no UK rate. For list (xi) only, Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and EU members pay 15% including MFN through 31 December 2027 (heading 9903.82.22). Canada and Mexico get no general exemption.

Do Section 232 metals duties stack with the forced-labor tariff or China's Section 301?

Not with the forced-labor tariff: U.S. note 52(f)(1) exempts goods under headings 9903.82.02 and 9903.82.04–9903.82.26 from it. China's Section 301 does stack, including the +25% under note 31(b) (heading 9903.91.01) on 348 lines, most of them steel and aluminum. Hot-rolled steel plate 7208.51.00 from China totals 75% in the engine (checked 10 November 2026).

Do cars, trucks and buses also pay the metals duty?

No. U.S. notes 33(a), 33(f) and 38(a)(1) say passenger vehicles, light trucks, their listed parts, and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are not subject to the metals headings. Buses pay the 10% bus duty under heading 9903.74.02 (Proclamation 10984, from 1 November 2025) and nothing for metals, even though diesel buses 8702.10.31 and 8702.10.61 are on list (vii).

What happens if my product is on no list?

It owes no Section 232 metals duty, so for most origins the forced-labor Section 301 tariff applies instead: 12.5% for Vietnam and China, 10% for India, the UK and non-USMCA goods from Mexico, unless the line is on the note 52 exemption lists. Cast-iron cookware 7323.91.50 from Vietnam totals 17.8% in the engine (5.3% MFN plus 12.5%), checked 10 November 2026.

Sources

  • USITC, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, 2026 Revision 22 (in force 30 October 2026), chapter 99, subchapter III: U.S. notes 16, 31(b), 33(a) and (f), 38(a)–(c) and 52(f); headings 9903.82.01–9903.82.26, 9903.91.01, 9903.74.01–9903.74.02. Read 10 November 2026.
  • Proclamation 11021 of 2 April 2026, Strengthening Actions Taken To Adjust Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper Into the United States, 91 FR 18201 (9 April 2026), clauses (1)–(3), (5) and (7)–(9).
  • Proclamation 11032 of 1 June 2026, Further Adjusting the Tariff Regimes for Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper Into the United States, 91 FR 34085 (4 June 2026), clauses (2) and (3).
  • Proclamation 10984 of 17 October 2025 (medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and buses), as implemented in HTSUS U.S. note 38; CBP CSMS #66665333 on buses and the metals duty.
  • USTR, Section 301 four-year review modifications, 89 FR 76581, as implemented in HTSUS U.S. note 31(b).
  • Zentria Flow tariff engine, GET /api/public-tools/tariff-check, 16 lines plus one in the text (8708.30.50 from Germany), 10 November 2026.

This guide explains the published rules; it is not a ruling. For a binding answer on classification or metal content, ask CBP for a ruling or work with a licensed customs broker. See also our overview of the programme: Section 232 steel, aluminum and copper tariffs 2026.

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