US Section 232: do the steel and aluminium derivative tariffs cover fasteners?

Bottom line

What is actually in scope

Section 232 steel and aluminium duties apply to imports from all countries, not only from China [1][2]. Country differences come from separate deal clauses — the United Kingdom, Russia, USMCA — not from origin alone [14][19][24].

The lists that matter sit in US note 16 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTSUS. Because the Federal Register prints those annexes as images, the practical way to read the current list is the CBP Metals HTS List attachment to CSMS # 68855869, the 8 June 2026 version, which maps chapters 1 to 97 of the HTSUS to each chapter 99 heading [23][24].

Three points that surprise most buyers

1. The 50% is additional to the ordinary Column 1 duty. For 7318.15.20 the Column 1 general rate is Free, so the effective rate is 50% [25]; for 7318.21.00 at 5.8% and 7616.10.90.90 at 6%, the ordinary duty is added on top [25][26].
2. The base is the full customs value, not the steel content. Since 6 April 2026 that is the express wording of Proclamation 11021 [13], repeated in CBP's guidance [19]. Before that date the rate column for the same chapter 73 derivative heading was already a plain ad valorem percentage, while the value-of-steel-content formula was used for derivative articles outside chapter 73 [3][6][7].
3. The 15% metal-weight de minimis does not help fasteners. Heading 9903.82.03 at 0% applies only to goods that are not classifiable in chapters 72, 73, 74 or 76 [19]. Fasteners are chapter 73 goods.

Timeline at a glance

How to decide — six steps

1. Classify to the 10-digit level, not to “bolts”. Get the HTSUS subheading and the statistical reporting number for every invoice line. A DIN 933 hex bolt and a DIN 912 socket head cap screw can land on different lines (7318.15.20 against 7318.15.80), and aluminium fasteners split by line inside 7616.10 [25][26]. Where to check: the USITC HTS online reference tool.
2. Check whether that code is on the current derivative list. Two official routes: the CBP Metals HTS List attachment to CSMS # 68855869, which lists the chapter 1 to 97 codes under each chapter 99 heading, and US note 16 to subchapter III of chapter 99, which is the legal list itself [23][24]. If the code is not on the list it is not a Section 232 derivative article; check separately whether it is a primary steel article, which fasteners are not [6].
3. Establish origin and the country of melt and pour, or smelt and cast. CBP guidance says to continue reporting the countries of melt and pour for all subject steel and steel derivative products, and of smelt and cast for aluminium and aluminium derivatives [20]. Ask your supplier for the melt-and-pour country per heat or lot, in writing. Country of export is not country of melt and pour. Where to check: the CBP guidance and the proclamation clauses [19][22].
4. Pick the chapter 99 heading your entry will use. 9903.82.02 is the general case at 50% and includes the 7318 derivative list [19][24]; 9903.82.04 and .05 cover UK-origin goods with at least 95% UK melt and pour, at 25% and 15% [19]; 9903.82.06 is the 10% band where at least 85% of the metal content is US melted and poured or smelted and cast [19][22]; 9903.82.14 to .17 cover Russia [19]; 9903.82.20 and .21 cover USMCA-qualifying goods of Canada and Mexico [24]. Where to check: Proclamations 11021 and 11032 in the Federal Register, plus the current CSMS guidance.
5. Apply the duty to the full customs value. Do not prorate by metal weight for chapter 73 fasteners [13][19]. If you intend to claim the reduced 10% band on US-melted-and-poured metal, the 85%-of-metal-weight test has to be documented; Proclamation 11032 directs CBP to penalise fraud or deliberately misleading statements about US content [22].
6. Check relief and get your broker's written confirmation before pricing. Exclusions are closed [4]; drawback on these duties is limited to listed articles of Trade Agreement Partners with partner-origin metal and no AD/CVD exposure, and no other drawback claims are available [16]; goods subject to the duty may enter a US foreign trade zone only under privileged foreign status [17]. Ask the broker to confirm in writing the chapter 99 heading used, the melt-and-pour data transmitted, and which other US measures apply to the same line — Section 301, IEEPA and reciprocal tariffs are outside what we verified for this page [30].

Common misreadings

Three quick answers

What we could not confirm

Open items from the source review, reproduced in full and unchanged as of 2026-10-09. Nothing here has been written as a conclusion, and we quote no rate for any of it.

• Other US duty layers on the same HTS lines. Section 301, IEEPA and reciprocal-tariff rates for 7318 were not verified for this page; ask your broker for the full stack [30].
• The full text of the current note 16 list. The Federal Register publishes the annexes to Proclamation 11021 as images, so our reading of the current fastener lines rests on CBP's official mapping attachment plus the proclamation clauses, not on the legal list text [13][22][23][24].
• Aluminium fastener lines. Whether a given aluminium bolt or nut is in or out depends on its statistical number, and lines such as 7616.10.70.30 and 7616.10.90.30 are not in the list we read; verify line by line [26].
• The August 2026 inclusion proposal. BIS proposed 14 additional derivative categories, none of them fasteners; comments closed on 27 August 2026 and the outcome is not reflected in the lists we read [27].
• The precise application of the UK 95% and all-US 85% thresholds across different tariff lines. Our reading follows CBP's heading-by-heading guidance and the proclamation clauses; the operative legal text is the annexes, which we could not read in full [19][22].
• Pre-April-2026 computation practice. Our reading of the earlier duty base is drawn from the rate column and the proclamation clause; importers reconciling older entries should confirm with CBP [3][6][7].
• Whether a further-processing duty-free reporting code still exists for Section 232. We did not find one in the post-2025 sources we read, and the chapter 98 special provisions were restricted in the March 2025 notices; treat this as unconfirmed and do not promise a customer that such a mechanism is available [6].
• The origin of the claim that started this page. The circulating statement “the US put 50% on all Chinese fasteners” could not be traced to an openable original post, so it is treated only as a claim to be tested and is not cited [29].

Sources

Official sources only, all opened and verified on 2026-10-09. Reference numbers are the ones used in the text.