Brokers Chafe Under Abrupt Expansion of Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

Most people spent the past weekend enjoying one of their final summer respites before the school year kicks off and vacation season winds down: with their feet up reading a book on the porch, swimming at the lakehouse, taking a breezy hike or relishing drinks on a patio at dusk.

Those in the logistics industry are not most people: Their weekend consisted of scrambling like a dozen Mondays had been squeezed into a 48-hour vortex by a tear in the space-time continuum originating in Washington, D.C. That’s because the Trump administration blindsided customs brokers and importers by quickly and quietly expanding steel and aluminum tariffs to over 400 items that contain the metals. 

Irritation and Inflation

President Donald Trump initially placed 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel imports in March via executive order, before hiking the rate to 50%, which far outstrips the general tariff rate his administration has placed on imports from most countries. In most cases, markets and supply chains have gotten at least a small grace period or heads-up with new or expanded levies — four days when the aluminum and steel tariffs were doubled on May 31, for example.

In this case, the courtesy lasted the weekend: On Friday, US Customs sent out a bulletin about the changes, which only appeared in the Federal Register on Tuesday. “The brokerage community (well, at least the ones I know) spent all weekend trying to clear goods subject to the tariff in time, get a hold of clients who may not realize it’s happening and being very, very irritated,” wrote Pete Mento, the head of global customs at logistics giant DSV. If you’re wondering what’s got them so busy: 

• The new tariffs cover products from wind turbines to mobile cranes, bulldozers, railcars and even chemicals that come in aluminum or steel vessels. “Basically, if it’s shiny, metallic, or remotely related to steel or aluminum, it’s probably on the list,” wrote Brian Baldwin, vice president of customs at Kuehne + Nagel.
• Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University’s business school, calculated that the new tariffs impact “well over $130 billion of imports based on 2024 data (and that is above and beyond the roughly $190 billion of goods already subject to these §232 tariffs).” He cautioned: “This will add more inflationary cost-push pressures to already climbing prices that domestic producers are charging.”

Highly Rated: Not everyone is so down on tariffs. S&P Global said Monday that it expects Trump’s tariffs will produce “meaningful” government revenue that could “generally offset weaker” revenue resulting from the GOP’s recently enacted “big beautiful bill” that will cut taxes and increase government spending. The ratings agency on Monday cited the windfall of revenue from tariffs as a reason for maintaining its AA+ rating on US sovereign debt.