Trump Is Slapping a 50 Percent Tariff on Home Appliances

President Donald Trump has been celebrating in recent weeks as his administration strikes bilateral trade deals following “Liberation Day.” Some products, however, will soon be subject to increased duties, not lower ones. Starting June 30, imports derived from aluminum and steel will be subject to a 50 percent ad valorem tariff. These duties will hit imports of common household appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers and increase the cost of living for everyday Americans.

Trump issued two executive orders on February 10 directing the Commerce Department to subject aluminum and steel imports to the 25 percent ad valorem tariffs imposed during his first administration. The orders cite the January 2018 reports of then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warning that steel and aluminum imports threatened to impair U.S. national security. These reports provided Trump the statutory authority to modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS) under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which “allows the President to impose restrictions on goods imports…with trading partners if the U.S. Secretary of Commerce determines…that the quantity or other circumstance of those imports ‘threaten to impair’ U.S. national security.”

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the HTSUS to impose the 25 percent duties on aluminum, steel, and derivative products on March 12. On June 3, Trump issued a proclamation adjusting imports of aluminum and steel into the U.S., increasing his aluminum and steel tariffs twofold, from 25 percent to 50 percent, and expanding the tariffs to include additional steel-derived products.

Accordingly, the BIS published a notice on Monday clarifying that these 50 percent ad valorem tariffs will be imposed on combined refrigerator-freezers; small and large dryers; washing machines; dishwashers; chest and upright freezers; cooking stoves, ranges, and ovens; food waste disposals; and welded wire racks. American families should not expect a reprieve from price increases caused by Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs: On April 30, the BIS issued an interim final rule eliminating the aluminum and steel tariff exclusions process.

The interim final rule also established a process allowing “U.S. manufacturers and trade associations to request the inclusion of new derivative articles under Section 232.” In other words, the BIS rule creates a process by which domestic firms may petition the government to erect more barriers to market entry for foreign competitors, further increasing American firms’ pricing power, and enabling them to impose higher prices on American consumers who already bore these costs during the first Trump administration.

The first submission period for product inclusions began on May 1 and ends on Monday. At press time, 17 public comments have been made. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick or a designee “will sign a positive or negative determination” about each of these requests for inclusion to be followed by “a determination memorandum in regulations.gov…within 60 days,” per the interim final rule.

Increasing the price of kitchen and home appliances doesn’t protect Americans; it just makes them poorer. And with Lutnick set to approve requests submitted to BIS between now and mid-August, Americans should brace for even more aluminum- and steel-derived imports to be hit with these 50 percent tariffs.

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