GlossaryEN1 min readUpdated: Jul 18, 2026

Critical Minerals Tariffs (Section 232)

As of July 2026 — Unlike steel, aluminum or copper, the United States has so far imposed NO Section 232 tariff on processed critical minerals.

Quick Answer

Last updated: 18 July 2026Published: 25 June 2026

Source: White House, Proclamation 11001 (15.01.2026); Covington & Burling / White & Case Client Alerts (01/2026); Sandler Travis & Rosenberg Section-232-Tracker (Stand 07/2026)

Category

Incoterms 2020 Simulator: Who bears costs & risk?

Reading time

1 min

Words

213

Mentioned in

–

Definition & Explanation

As of July 2026 — Unlike steel, aluminum or copper, the United States has so far imposed NO Section 232 tariff on processed critical minerals. On 15 January 2026, President Trump issued Proclamation 11001 ("Adjusting Imports of Processed Critical Minerals and Their Derivative Products into the United States"), finding that imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products threaten national security — yet declined to impose tariffs at this stage. Instead, he directed the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to negotiate agreements with trading partners within 180 days, including on price floors and on building domestic processing and refining capacity. Background: while the U.S. mines substantial volumes of unprocessed rare earths, it has little refining capacity of its own and is heavily dependent on China. The 180-day window expired in mid-July 2026; as of 18 July 2026 no tariff proclamation has been published — but a sectoral additional tariff remains an explicit possibility as the next step. The legal basis — as with the steel, semiconductor and auto tariffs — is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, not the IEEPA-based reciprocal tariffs. Not to be confused with the Section 232 metals tariffs already in force, or with antidumping and countervailing duties on individual mineral products.

Next steps

Tools that match this term

Find HS codeDetermine the tariff number for customsOpen Calculate customs valueWork out import duties and customs valueOpen Compare IncotermsClarify duties, cost and riskOpen Calculate transit timeEstimate duration per transport modeOpen

Related Terms

You might also be interested in these terms

Tariff Stacking

As of June 2026 — Tariff stacking refers to several US tariff regimes piling up on one and the same import: a single component may…

Learn more

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ)

As of June 2026 — A Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) is a secure area supervised by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that, for dut…

Learn more

Additional Tariff

An additional tariff (German: Zusatzzoll) is a duty levied on top of the regular (treaty- or most-favoured-nation-based) import ta…

Learn more

Punitive Tariff

A punitive tariff (German: Strafzoll) is the colloquial name for an additional tariff levied as a trade-policy response to the con…

Learn more

Trump Tariffs United Kingdom (UK)

As of July 2026 — The United Kingdom was, in May 2025, the first country to reach a tariff agreement with the United States: the l…

Learn more

Trump Tariffs on the EU / Germany

As of July 2026 — Goods exported from the EU — and thus from Germany — to the United States are subject to a negotiated all-in bas…

Learn more

⚖️ ICC Incoterms 2020

Incoterms 2020 Simulator: Who bears costs & risk?

Analyze all 11 Incoterms 2020: cost matrix, risk timeline, insurance gap detector and customs responsibility – free, no login required.

Incoterms Simulator →

Logistics knowledge straight to your inbox

Weekly: Top news, industry facts and insights from the world of logistics – free.

Critical Minerals Tariffs (Section 232)

Next steps

Related Terms

Tariff Stacking

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ)

Additional Tariff

Punitive Tariff

Trump Tariffs United Kingdom (UK)

Trump Tariffs on the EU / Germany

Incoterms 2020 Simulator: Who bears costs & risk?

Logistics knowledge straight to your inbox

Community Questions & Answers