Who actually pays a tariff
The importer of record pays the duty to Customs at the border; who ultimately bears the cost depends on contracts, supply chains, and how much prices can move.
Priya Vaithilingam
Steel tariffs sit at 50 percent a year on
Section 232 steel and aluminum duties doubled to 50 percent in June 2025 and still cover imports that fed auto plants, appliances, and construction.
Priya VaithilingamAnalysis & Opinion
Trump Cuts Steel Tariffs To 25%
A June proclamation halved the general steel and aluminum tariff rate to 25% from 50%, with lower rates for some allies and a 10% rate for mostly U.S.-origin metal, the Federal Register shows.
Small packages lose their tariff exemption
A rule that let low-value imports skip duties for a century is gone, and postal carriers are still adjusting to the paperwork.
How a product gets added to steel tariffs
A little-known Commerce Department process lets companies petition to tax specific imports three times a year, without a new presidential proclamation.
How antidumping duties actually get set
A single trade petition triggers two separate federal reviews, and only one of them decides the tariff rate.
Manufacturing
More in Manufacturing →How a trade case moves from petition to duty
An antidumping case runs through the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission on a fixed clock, with provisional duties possible within about seven months.
Owen BlackwoodTrade
More in Trade →Two agencies decide every US dumping case
Commerce sets the margin, the International Trade Commission sets the injury finding, and the statutory clock between them decides when importers start paying.
Priya VaithilingamPolitics
More in Politics →How a Section 232 tariff gets imposed
A 270-day federal investigation, a 90-day presidential decision window and a 15-day implementation deadline explain how today's 25% steel and aluminum tariffs came to be.
Khalid Okonkwo