UPDATE: On March 24, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message noting the release of an updated list of impacted HTSUS codes covering “energy” and “energy resources” from Canada that are now subject to 10% tariffs since March 4, 2025. The list now specifically includes all crude and crude mixtures along with others. This post has been updated accordingly and provides a link to the current spreadsheet listing the applicable commodities and the relevant HTSUS codes.

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On March 19, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued guidance regarding the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) codes covering “energy” and “energy resources” from Canada that are now subject to 10% tariffs since March 4, 2025, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).   See Thompson Hine Updates of March 4, 2025 and March 6, 2025.  CBP’s guidance confirms that the terms “energy” and “energy resources”, as defined in Executive Order (EO) 14156 of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), apply and expressly include “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606 (a)(3).”

CBP’s guidance continues to note that energy and energy resources qualifying for USMCA are not subject to the additional tariffs.  However, since the original notices regarding the scope of these definitions, numerous interpretative questions have been raised, particularly concerning the downstream scope of “natural gas liquids”, “refined petroleum products”, “biofuels” and “critical minerals.”  In response, CBP has provided a spreadsheet listing the applicable commodities and the relevant HTSUS codes. Styled Energy and Energy Resources from Canada Subject to Additional Duties Pursuant to Executive Order, the spreadsheetidentifies more than 150 critical minerals and related compounds classified under HTSUS Chapters 25-29, 32, 36 and 38.  The list also identifies more than 500 types of platinum, steel, aluminum, tin, platinum, nickel, titanium and other metal articles classified under HTSUS Chapters 71-76, 78-81 and 85.  Many of these products are used in the energy sector (e.g., pipelines) and mining sector (e.g., rails) and have been included in the recently imposed 25% Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. See Thompson Hine Update of March 12, 2025.

The spreadsheet includes numerous “energy” or “energy resources” line items such as “coal”, “natural gas”, “biodiesel”, “uranium” and co- or by-products such as benzene under HTSUS Chapters 27 and Chapter 28.  The CBP guidance plainly indicates that “[e]nergy or energy resources of Canada, as defined by HTSUS 9903.01.13, include, but are not limited to, goods classified under the HTSUS subheadings in the attached spreadsheet.” (Emphasis added.)  As a result, based on a plain reading of the guidance, it remains possible that additional HTSUS codes could be included in the definition of the “energy” and “energy resources”, as defined in all related Executive Orders and notices, and covered by the 10% IEEPA tariffs. 

Critical Mineral Production

As noted, CBP’s guidance also includes certain “critical minerals” under the 10% IEEPA tariffs, following the use of that term as defined in Executive Order 14156.  This would appear to be supported by the issuance of an Executive Order on March 20, 2025 by President Donald Trump addressing critical minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3), “as well as uranium, copper, potash, gold, and any other element, compound or material as determined by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC).”  Some, but not all, of these critical minerals are included in the CBP spreadsheet. 

Pursuant to the March 20, 2025 Executive Order, President Trump stated that “[o]ur national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.  It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent.”  Under this Executive Order, the Chair of the NEDC is to identify and establish mineral production projects for expedited review and to solicit industry feedback on regulatory bottlenecks and other recommended strategies for expediting domestic mineral production.  The Secretary of the Interior has been tasked with identifying all federal lands known to hold mineral deposits and reserves and to prioritize mineral production and mining-related purposes as the primary land uses in these areas, consistent with applicable law.  The Secretaries of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and the Interior are to identify “as many sites as possible on Federal land managed by their respective agencies that may be suitable for leasing or development pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2667, 42 U.S.C. 7256, or other applicable authorities, for the construction and operation of private commercial mineral production enterprises.”  In doing so, they are to provide a list prioritizing sites “on which mineral production projects could be fully permitted and operational as soon as possible and have the greatest potential effect on robustness of the domestic mineral supply chain.”