US widens products subject to steel, aluminium tariffs

[WASHINGTON] The Trump administration on Friday (Aug 15) widened the reach of its 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports by adding hundreds of derivative products to the list of goods subject to the levies.

In a Federal Register notice late on Friday, the Commerce Department said the Bureau of Industry and Security was adding 407 product codes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States that identify the goods to be hit with the additional duties on the steel and aluminium content of those products.

The non-steel and non-aluminium content will be subject to the tariff rates President Donald Trump has imposed on the goods originating from specific countries, the notice said.

The levies on the goods on the expanded list go into effect on Aug 18.

Earlier on Friday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska that he planned additional announcements on steel tariffs and on levies for semiconductor imports. REUTERS