The global industrial metals trade pattern is changing again! Trump restructures metal tariffs: the 50% high wall remains standing, with exemptions and tiered tariffs implemented simultaneously.

Zhituo Finance APP learned that the Trump administration said it would maintain 50% tariffs on a range of imported steel, aluminum, and copper products. At the same time, the Trump administration will simplify the tax burden structure for goods that contain only negligible amounts of metal components. It will also impose a unified 25% tariff on certain percentages of finished products and related derivative products. Products with steel, aluminum, or copper content of 15% and below will no longer be subject to such “Section 232” metal tariffs.

In addition, for certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and power grid equipment, a 15% tariff rate will apply before 2027, aiming to accelerate the construction of ultra-large-scale AI data centers currently underway across the United States and the “manufacturing reshoring to the United States” policy. The latest broad reshuffle of metal tariffs also includes tariff refinements for products that contain relatively low amounts of these metals, including steel, aluminum, or copper.

While maintaining tariff walls, the Trump administration has begun to acknowledge that the old metal tariff regime has had too great of a side effect on downstream manufacturers. Previously, steel and aluminum tariffs were raised sharply from 10% to eventually be increased further to 50%, and they were expanded to a large number of “derivative products.” As a result, goods that include only a small amount of metal components were also pulled into the scope, making corporate compliance extremely complex and lobbying pressure steadily increasing.

As for the price trend of industrial metal-type bulk commodities, the latest adjustment is more likely to deepen the price separation between the U.S. market and the global market rather than pushing global benchmark prices unilaterally higher. Previously, U.S. aluminum buyers in January of this year were already paying a premium equivalent to 68% of the LME benchmark aluminum price, showing that high tariffs have pushed U.S. domestic physical premiums to extremely high levels.

The new tariff plan today effectively acknowledges that the method of calculating tariffs item-by-item based on metal content in the first place is too cumbersome, while also not willing to remove the politically symbolic 50% tariffs. So it instead keeps the high tax rates for upstream base metals unchanged and applies differentiated treatment to downstream equipment and finished products with low metal content. From the perspective of macro policy adjustments, this is a redirection from “a comprehensive crackdown on imports” to “prioritizing the protection of domestic upstream metal producers and key industrial chains.” In addition, after the U.S. Supreme Court previously overturned some of Trump’s country-by-country imposed tariffs because those tariffs were applied under an emergency law, the White House has relied more on national security tools like Section 232, which also indicates that metal tariffs have become a more stable and sustainable trade weapon for it.

A senior Trump administration official said that these adjustments are a necessary step to simplify a complex tariff policy and provide more fairness to businesses that are dealing with the tariff regime of U.S. President Donald Trump. Since the president has not formally announced these measures, the official introduced the relevant details in media reports on an anonymous basis.

Trump overhauls its broad metal tariff net! The 50% high tariff stays—exemptions and tiered collection land in sync

This administration’s focus in adjusting the metal tariffs is not on “reducing tariffs,” but on “tiering tariff rates and correcting misalignments”—specifically reflected in the fact that goods with total metal content below 15% are effectively exempt from metal tariffs. Goods identified as “mainly made of” one of the relevant metals will be charged a 25% tariff. Products manufactured overseas but using U.S. metals entirely will face a 10% tariff rate. And some metal-intensive industrial equipment and power grid equipment will have a 15% tariff rate before 2027. However, imported metal products that are fully or almost fully made of aluminum, steel, or copper (for example, steel coils and aluminum sheets) will be charged a unified 50% tariff on their entire value.

The White House’s latest statement shows that under the new tariff policy structure, goods with total steel, aluminum, or copper content below 15% will be effectively exempt from metal tariff policy. The statement also says that certain other derivative products—if determined to be “mainly made of” one of the metals listed above—will be subject to a lower tier of 25% tariff. For products in which the content of steel, aluminum, or copper is 15% or below, they will no longer be constrained by such “Section 232” metal tariffs.

The White House said that actual products manufactured overseas but using U.S. metals entirely will face a lower tier of 10% tariff rate. Some “metal-intensive industrial equipment and power grid equipment” will be subject to a 15% tariff rate before 2027. This is intended to comprehensively strengthen America’s industrial foundation.

Despite these changes, the high 50% tariff rate will still be maintained for products that are fully or almost fully made of aluminum, steel, or copper—for example, pure imported steel pipes and aluminum sheets. And according to the official, the tariff will be assessed based on the full value of the product, not just the value based on its metal content.

After the announcement, the North American copper benchmark—Comex copper futures—rose as much as 1.4% at one point, but then gave back the gains and fell 0.5% during U.S. late-day trading on Thursday.

This latest shift was made after months of lobbying by U.S. companies. Many firms previously said that old measures targeting certain metal imports unfairly hurt U.S. businesses. Although the Trump administration argued that these tariffs are meant to encourage domestic manufacturing, expanding them to so-called derivative products means that even goods that contain only a small amount of metal elements—just a small share of the overall product weight and value—would still be taxed.

To accelerate the “manufacturing reshoring to the United States” that Trump has long been eager for

The revised metal tariffs are based on Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, one year after Trump rolled out the core content of his second-term trade agenda. That agenda imposed broad tariffs on goods from dozens of other countries, aiming to comprehensively advance the “manufacturing reshoring to the United States” policy, expand America’s opportunities to enter other markets, and rebalance global trade flows.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year overturned some of Trump’s country-by-country imposed tariffs because those tariffs were applied under an emergency law, President Trump has continued to use other authorities to rebuild that tariff barrier. The government also released on Thursday tariff measures targeting imported medicines, imposing higher tariffs on companies that produce products that are not made in the U.S. or do not reach an agreement with the White House to lower the cost to U.S. consumers.

On Thursday, officials used examples like dental floss and other special consumer goods to explain which products would receive significant relief from the metal tariff adjustments. Dental floss has a small metal component used to cut the floss, but aside from that it does not contain a large amount of steel or aluminum. Washing machines are also expected to benefit.

This structure could lead to certain imported steel-and-aluminum goods facing higher tariffs—while easier compliance commitments are used to mitigate that impact. Previously, when steel and aluminum tariffs applied to derivative products, the tariff was assessed based on the quantity of those metals contained. This made it quite difficult to quickly calculate the appropriate tariff amount.

Supporters of the revised metal tariff plan say this will support the government’s efforts to bring domestic manufacturing back.

“This action will help ensure these tariffs work as intended, supporting domestic manufacturing and U.S. workers,” said Jon B. Tumi, chairman of the “Alliance for Prosperous America,” a group representing U.S. manufacturers.

The November midterm election, which will determine which party controls Congress, will likely depend on how voters perceive the state of the U.S. economy. Tariff policy and the war in Iran have already significantly raised the cost of living for Americans, posing a risk to the Republicans under Trump’s leadership. The aforementioned senior Trump administration official downplayed the impact of the revised tariff plan on consumer prices.

How much will the revised policy affect industrial metal prices?

Last year, the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum as a measure targeting other manufacturing capacity producers such as China. The decision ultimately also dealt a blow to the United States’ longstanding main trade partners, including Canada, the European Union, Mexico, and South Korea. Shortly afterward, the Trump administration expanded the coverage to include so-called derivative products containing these metals.

For the price trend of industrial metal commodities, on top of the additional shock from current Middle East conflicts to aluminum supply—after Iran attacked Gulf smelters, the LME aluminum price hit a four-year high, and premiums in the U.S. and Europe were further pushed up—the trading pattern most likely to emerge going forward is: U.S. domestic prices for steel, aluminum, and copper and their premiums remain relatively strong, even more distorted, while pressure on downstream terminal prices may ease somewhat. But global benchmarks such as LME/SHFE may not rise in step. In other words, the impact of this policy on commodities will first be about regional price spreads and reshuffling trade flows, and only second about the absolute direction of prices. Positives are more concentrated on U.S. domestic upstream metal producers and the scrap/recycling system, while downstream manufacturers that rely on imported raw materials will still face cost pressure.

When steel equipment, power grid equipment, and other items are temporarily reduced to 15%, it is essentially lowering friction costs for America’s unprecedented AI infrastructure frenzy—upgrades to power infrastructure and power grid systems, and even new investments by steel mills—so some Wall Street analysts say that this tariff adjustment by the Trump administration is more precise than the old system. This is mainly because, while protecting the U.S. upstream metal industrial chain, it opens the door for the core industrial and power-chain equipment urgently needed for the AI data center construction wave. However, analysts also say that without cheaper energy, a more stable cycle for capital expenditures, and lower levels of policy uncertainty in numerical terms, simply adjusting tariffs alone is still not enough to truly transform the United States from a “high-cost production location” into a “global high-efficiency manufacturing hub.”