The US released on June 30 the final list of 570 import products, including several steel and aluminum items, from Russia and Belarus that will be subject to a higher 35% tariff starting July 27, according to a Federal Register notice.
For steel products, a 35% tariff will be applied to certain powders under US International Trade Commission HS code 72052900, certain ferrous scrap and waste under code 72044900, various pipe products under 7300 subcodes and some semi-finished products under the 72071200 and 72249000 codes.
For aluminum products, several types of bar, rod, wire, plate, sheet and strip will be subject to the 35% tariff.
The duty hike also applies to some ferroalloys such as ferromanganese and ferrosilicon.
USITC HS Codes Impacted Item description
72021150 Ferromanganese containing by weight more than 4% of carbon
72022110 Ferrosilicon containing by weight more than 55% but not more than 80% of silicon and more than 3% of calcium
72022900 Ferrosilicon containing by weight 55% or less of silicon
72023000 Ferrosilicon manganese
72024100 Ferrochromium containing by weight more than 4% of carbon
72024910 Ferrochromium containing by weight more than 3% but not more than 4% of carbon
72027000 Ferromolybdenum
72044900 Certain ferrous waste and scrap nesoi
72052900 Pig iron, spiegeleisen, and iron or steel (other than alloy steel) powders
72071200 Iron or nonalloy steel semi-finished products, with less than 0.25% carbon, w/rect. cross sect. (exclud. sq.), nesoi
72249000 Alloy (other than stainless) steel, semi-finished products
various codes under 7300 Certain steel pipe products
76042930 Aluminum alloy, bars and rods, having a round cross section
76042950 Aluminum alloy, bars and rods, other than with a round cross section
76051100 Aluminum (other than alloy), wire, with a maximum cross-sectional dimension over 7 mm
76061230 Aluminum alloy, plates/sheets/strip, with thickness over 0.2mm, rectangular (incl. sq), not clad
76061260 Aluminum alloy, plates/sheets/strip, with thickness over 0.2mm, rectangular (incl. sq), clad
Source: Federal Register, US International Trade Commission
The White House first announced its intent to raise tariffs to 35% on certain products imported from Russia and Belarus in a June 27 proclamation.
“I have determined that increasing the column 2 rates of duty to 35% ad valorem on certain other products of the Russian Federation, the importation of which has not already been prohibited, is warranted and consistent with the foreign policy interests of the United States,” President Joe Biden said in the proclamation.
In a separate statement, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the affected products would include “steel and aluminum; minerals, ores, and metals; chemicals; arms and ammunition; wood and paper products; aircraft & parts; and automotive parts.”
The raising of “column 2” rates is tied to the US’ previous action of suspending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus in April to escalate pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The US Harmonized Tariff Schedule, compiled by the USITC, outlines separate duty rates for favored trade partners (column 1 duties) and non-favored trade partners (column 2 duties).
The April removal of normal trade relations allowed the US to apply column 2 duty rates on imports from Russia and Belarus until January 2024.
For metals, column 2 duty rates reach up to 20% for finished steel, 18.5% for most unwrought aluminum, 11% for high purity aluminum, and 10.5% for some categories of value-add aluminum products.
The US may restore normal trade status with either country pending permission from Congress.
— Nick Lazzaro
