On Monday, February 10, 2025, President Trump signed proclamations making changes to the steel and aluminum tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The action reinstates 25 percent tariffs on steel imports from all countries, while increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10 percent to 25 percent.
The move to impose tariffs follows a direction in the President’s trade policy memo, “America First Trade Policy,” which called on the Departments of Commerce and Defense to undertake a “full economic and security review of the United States’ industrial and manufacturing base to assess whether it is necessary to initiate investigations to adjust imports” that threaten national security as well as a review of the exclusions and “import adjustment measures” for steel and aluminum imports.
According to the proclamation, as of March 12, 2025, the tariffs on all steel and aluminum from all countries will be 25 percent, with the revocation of all “alternative agreements,” such as the exemptions and tariff rate quotas received by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Also, immediately terminated is the product exclusion process, with currently granted product exclusions in effect until they expire, hit the volume cap, or March 12, 2025, whichever is first.
The 25 percent tariffs also apply to derivative articles of steel and aluminum, except derivative steel products from outside of the US of steel “melted and poured” in the U.S. and derivative aluminum articles processed in another country from aluminum articles that were “smelted and cast” in the U.S. Additionally, the 25 percent tariff on covered derivative aluminum articles which are not included in HTS Chapter 76 (Aluminum and articles thereof), which includes bumper stampings for motor vehicles and body stampings for tractors, will only apply to the aluminum content of the article and will go into effect once the Department of Commerce puts a system in place to evaluate and collect the tariff on those articles.
The proclamation also directs the Department of Commerce to establish a process to place additional derivative steel and aluminum articles on the official list of covered articles subject to the 25 percent tariffs. This new process will allow producers or industry associations representing producers of steel and aluminum articles or derivative steel and aluminum articles to request additional inclusions on the list of covered articles if they can establish that imports of the derivative article have increased to a point where it “threatens to impair national security.”
The tariffs are expected to draw retaliatory measures from other countries, with the European Commission already set to meet to consider a reaction to protect European interests.
Trump Imposes New Tariffs on China; Tariffs on Canada & Mexico Delayed
President Trump announced a new additional 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods on February 1, 2025, as well as new tariffs on Canada and Mexico which have been delayed for a month, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) due to the “threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl.” This was a separate trade action from the February 10 Executive Order related to steel and aluminum tariffs.
In an Executive Order (EO), Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China, Trump established the new 10 percent tariff on all articles that are products of China and Hong Kong effective beginning February 4, 2025, as well as eliminating the de minimis duty exemption for Chinese products. The new tariffs are in addition to existing tariff rates, which could bring the total, when combined with the Section 301 action, to a 35 percent tariff rate on most Chinese imports.
While Trump signed an EO amending the original February 1 action to allow shipments from China to qualify for duty-free entry under the de minimis program until “adequate systems are in place” to process and collect tariffs on such shipments, China has already responded with retaliatory tariffs imposing a 15 percent tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, cars and pickup trucks. China also imposed export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium and has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. tariffs with the World Trade Organization.
In two other separate, but related EOs, President Trump imposed, and then suspended for thirty days, 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and all Canadian goods, except for energy resources imports from Canada which face a 10 percent tariff. Following discussions with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Trump on February 3 paused the implementation of the tariffs until March 4, 2025, to allow for further negotiations.
Senate Commerce Committee Approves Supply Chain Bills
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has advanced legislation aimed at promoting supply chain resiliency. The Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act, S. 257, reintroduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), was unanimously approved by the Committee on February 5, 2025.
The bill would establish a resiliency program at the Commerce Department tasked with monitoring and tracking critical industries and emerging technologies, including establishing a Supply Chain Resilience Working Group charged with mapping, monitoring, and modeling U.S. capacity to mitigate vulnerabilities in “critical industries,” “critical supply chains,” and “critical goods.” The Committee also approved the Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, S. 99, introduced by Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Blackburn which calls for a report on the effectiveness and management of manufacturing support programs within the Department of Commerce including the relevant offices and bureaus responsible for critical supply chain resilience, and manufacturing and industrial innovation programs. The report will also be required to make recommendations on improving the efficiency of these programs.
Deregulatory EO Issued
On January 31, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) seeking to “unleash prosperity through deregulation” by requiring federal agencies to identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to repeal whenever they seek to introduce a new rule or regulation. For fiscal year 2025, the total incremental cost of all new regulations must be “significantly less” than zero. The EO escalates President Trump’s policy in EO 13771 from his first term, which had a two-to-one regulatory elimination requirement. EO 13771 was challenged in court, though all challenges were ultimately dismissed. It is expected that this new EO will face challenges as well
OSHA Illness and Injury Reports Due March 2
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has begun accepting injury and illness reports through the Injury Tracking Application (ITA). Covered employees must electronically submit their OSHA injury and illness records, including OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301 by March 2, 2025. Most establishments with 250 or more employees are required to electronically submit summary injury and illness data (OSHA Form 300A), while manufacturers are one of the numerous specific industries in which all establishments with 100 or more employees must also submit Forms 300 and 301 to OSHA. Visit OSHA’s ITA Coverage Application to determine your electronic reporting requirements or click here to access OSHA’s injury reporting portal.