On April 27, 2026, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) published a Federal Register notice adding a duty-free code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) with retroactive effect to cover goods subject to the Section 232 aluminum, steel, or copper tariff regimes that do not, in fact, contain these metals. This new provision, subheading 9903.82.01, applies retroactively to April 6, 2026, the effective date of Proclamation 11021, which overhauled the Section 232 aluminum, steel, and copper tariff regimes (see Update of April 7, 2026). Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 authorizes the president to adjust duties on goods imported in quantities or under circumstances that threaten U.S. national security following an affirmative finding from a Commerce investigation.
The addition of subheading 9903.82.01 resolves the discrepancy under which goods classified within HTSUS Chapters 72 (iron and steel), 73 (articles of iron and steel), 74 (copper and articles of copper), and 76 (aluminum and articles of aluminum) were subject to the Section 232 metals regimes based on tariff classification even though they did not contain aluminum, steel, or copper. Since the issuance of Proclamation 11021, subheading 9903.82.03 has been exempting goods from the Section 232 metals regimes where the aggregate weight of the applicable metal is less than 15 percent of the weight of the imported article; that provision, however, expressly excludes “those [goods] classifiable in [HTSUS] Chapters 72, 73, 74, and 76.” HTSUS subheading 9903.82.01 fills this gap, extending relief to importers with goods classified under those four HTSUS chapters that were otherwise subject to Annex I-A of Proclamation 11021 (a 50% Section 232 duty) or Annex I-B (a 25% Section 232 duty).