On August 6, 2026, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on a proposal to expand the scope of Section 232 national security tariffs. Exercising authority granted under Presidential Proclamation 11021, BIS proposes adding 14 derivative articles comprised predominantly of steel, aluminum, or copper to the tariff lists.

If finalized, affected products will be subject to new ad valorem duty rates ranging from 15% to 50%. The comment period is notably abbreviated, requiring all submissions by August 27, 2026.

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 authorizes actions to adjust imports that threaten to impair U.S. national security. Under Proclamation 11021(issued April 2, 2026), the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative were authorized to expand tariff scopes if imports of specific derivative articles increased in a manner that undermined the objectives of existing Section 232 tariffs (Proclamations 9704, 9705, and 10962).

BIS has determined that imports of the 14 articles listed below threaten to undermine those objectives, prompting this proposal.

Proposed Products:

• Aluminum powder of a non-lamellar structure (HTSUS 7603.10.0000)
• Brass-wind musical instruments and parts and accessories thereof (HTSUS 9205.10.0000 and 9209.99.4080)
• Parts of welding machines and apparatus (HTSUS 8515.90.2000)
• Free-standing floor safes classifiable in HTSUS 8303.00.0000
• Electric conductor cables (HTSUS 8544.49.2000, 8544.49.3040, 8544.49.3080, and 8544.60.4000)
• Fire extinguishers (HTSUS 8424.10.0000)
• Parts of heat exchange units (HTSUS 8419.90.3000)
• Parts of linear acting hydraulic power engines and motors (HTSUS 8412.90.9005)
• Mobile lifting frames on tires and straddle carriers (HTSUS 8426.12.0000)
• Other self-propelled cranes and mobile lifting frames (HTSUS 8426.41.0090)
• Tanker trailers and tanker semi-trailers (HTSUS 8716.31.00)
• Self-loading or self-unloading trailers and semi-trailers for agricultural purposes (HTSUS 8716.20.00)
• Other trailers and semi-trailers (HTSUS 8716.40.00)
• Filled steel containers of the following chemicals and related items:
• Propane, liquefied, other than minimum purity of 90 liquid volume percent (HTSUS 2711.12.0020)
• Oxygen (HTSUS 2804.40.0000)
• Propene (propylene) (HTSUS 2901.22.0000)

Key Focus Areas for Public Comments

BIS is actively soliciting feedback, data, and recommendations from domestic producers, industry associations, and importers. Specifically, they are asking commenters to address:

• Material Intensity: The actual aluminum, steel, and/or copper intensity of these specific products.
• Import Volumes: Whether the current volume of imports actually threatens or undermines U.S. national security.
• Domestic Capacity: The extent to which domestic manufacturers can meet U.S. demand for these products.
  • Economic Impact: How imposing these tariffs would affect the broader U.S. economy and specific domestic industries.
    The comment period is short, closing on August 27, 2026.

Next Steps and How to Act
The comment period is short, closing on August 27, 2026.

If your business imports any of the targeted items, you should consider filing comments. More details, including directions for filing comments, are available in the Federal Register notice found here.

JSC Compliance will continue to monitor and distribute updates when they become available. If you have any questions, please contact our JSC Compliance team.