Confusion appears to be the order of the day with the Federal Register listing 407 items containing steel or aluminum that are now subject to a 50% tariff.
The publication notes that the tariff applies to those materials not just at the point of being unloaded at any U.S. port, but also while still being on a ship.
As noted by the Data Digest, which is published by the Association of General Contractors, “previously, shipments in transit had a grace period.”
The Federal Register posting notes that materials considered as “steel or aluminum derivative products” are now subject to the new tariffs. But so are products with steel and aluminum content.
“Non-steel and non-aluminum content,” continues the document, “will remain subject to the reciprocal and other applicable tariffs.”
Meanwhile, parcel companies based in Europe have decided to suspend various shipments to the U.S. due to the elimination of the de minimis rule.
That provision has allowed individual packages with a dollar value of $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty-free. Already impacting goods from China and Hong Kong, the new policy regarding the de minimis rule will now be applied to all countries.
The White House, in a fact sheet, has characterized the de minimis provision as a “catastrophic loophole” that has both avoided tariff fees and allowed for the importation of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
But there may be consequences to doing away with the de minimis provision, predicts USA Today, forecasting that almost certainly “prices on imported low-cost goods are likely to rise soon.”
August 26, 2025
By Garry Boulard
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