The United States Department of Commerce has expanded, on Tuesday, August 19, the list of products that are now attacked by customs tasks applied to steel and aluminum, as well as its derivatives, adding hundreds of products ranging from baby car seats to excavators through furniture.
In a press release, the Office of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency that depends on the Department of Commerce, has listed more than 400 new products now attacked by the existing surcharge of 50% on steel and aluminum since the beginning of the year.
Limit the derivation of customs tasks
According to the bis, customs duties have been applied since Monday to all these products, after the publication of a notice in the Federal Registry, the equivalent of the official magazine.
It is about “limiting the possibilities of avoiding” existing customs duties, said the Undersecretary in charge of industry and security, Jeffrey Kessler, cited in the press release.
Additional customs tasks
The customs duties applied by the United States are now an average of 20.1%, according to the calculation of the WTO and the IMF, that is, its highest level since the early 1910s, apart from a few weeks in 2025. This theoretical rate was only 2.4% during the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025.
Since then, the Head of State has established, in several waves, a new surcharge in products that enter the United States. These vary from 10 to 50% depending on situations and countries, not to mention customs tasks that are particular sectors (car, steel, aluminum, copper).
Steel and aluminum were initially attacked by a 25%surcharge, taken in June 50%. Donald Trump threatens to impose others in the name of the protection of the national industry (in pharmacist and semiconductors, in particular) or to repress countries for political reasons.
Source: BFM TV
