New tariffs on steel and aluminum will test value chains of U.S. manufacturers, skyrocketing exposure to levies
Feb. 21, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s new Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivative items will expose a vast number of U.S. companies across sectors to additional levies, even if they’re not importing raw metal materials. An analysis by Altana of the world’s most comprehensive body of supply chain data reveals that the White House’s decision this month to expand application of national security tariffs to imported steel and aluminum derivative products will strike 15 times as many companies as President Trump’s 2020 national security tariffs on aluminum and steel products.
The 2020 round applied to wire and cable, aluminum auto parts, nails, tacks, staples, spikes, and other metal products; the new Section 232 tariffs expand to apply to downstream goods like metal furniture and unupholstered furniture frames, screws and bolts, pre-fabricated structural steel, aluminum baseball bats, aircraft parts, flatbed or cargo trailers, insulated electric conductors, door hinges, and much more.
The new round of Section 232 derivatives disproportionately affect the auto industry, the U.S.’s largest importer of aluminum products, but also hit companies in scientific manufacturing, civil engineering, mining, transportation manufacturing, hardware and plumbing, and more.
In 2024, nearly 200,000 U.S. companies conducted more than 11 million import transactions of steel and aluminum derivative articles subject to the new tariffs, compared to about 11,000 companies and 500,000 transactions for the 2020 levies, Altana’s analysis reveals. Those transactions were valued at more than $350 billion, compared to $17 billion in imports subject to the 2020 tariffs.
The effects of the derivatives additions on transactions is shown in the huge expansion in the number of suppliers and importers implicated. In 2024, companies sourcing steel and aluminum derivatives articles subject to the new additions used 140,363 suppliers. Only 10,621 suppliers were involved in steel and aluminum derivatives transactions exclusive to the 2020 list.
Without deep visibility into product-level value chains, automakers risk significant financial and operational disruption. The universe of affected importers and suppliers will increase once these derivatives come into effect. Enterprises will need to uncover hidden dependencies to quantify risk, adjust sourcing strategies, and build more resilient, profitable supply chains. Global commerce comprises hundreds of millions of companies and billions of transactions each year, and a single multinational corporation can work with tens and even hundreds of thousands of trading partners and dozens of regulators across the world. That's far too many for supply chain executives and compliance teams to handle manually. But advances in artificial intelligence and networked platforms enable suppliers, customers and regulators to collaborate across their networks, building trust and facilitating compliance in a dynamic and complex trade environment.
Altana’s artificial intelligence has built a dynamic, intelligent, universal map of the entire global supply chain using first-party intelligence from participants in our network. The result is a shared source of truth on the global supply chain, informed by the data of many of the world’s largest organizations — and the only product network connecting buyers, suppliers, logistics service providers, and regulators.
With Altana, you can:
- Visualize and analyze your value chain connections, identifying hidden relationships and risks.
- Collaborate with partners across your value chains to build more resilient, compliant, and cost-effective product lines.
- Request, share, and link product information across your supplier network to build traceability upstream and downstream, saving time gathering product information, resolving risk by adding proof of compliance.
Mastering Tariffs With Altana's Tariff Scenario Planner
The dynamic, fluid global trade landscape –– including Section 232 derivatives additions on aluminum and steel –– demands immediate attention and action to mitigate disruption to your supply chain and bottom line. Altana’s new Tariff Scenario Planner helps you navigate trade volatility with precision and speed — powered by the most comprehensive view of your product-level, multi-tier value chains. Unlike other solutions that rely on fragmented data, Altana’s Planner is built on your product networks. This enables you to make faster, more informed trade decisions that drive profitability while competitors scramble for answers.
With our Tariff Scenario Planner, you can:
- Pinpoint exposure: See the precise share of your product costs impacted by the new tariffs, down to the shipment level.
- Prioritize supplier relationships: Identify which suppliers pose the highest cost risk, so you can execute the right diversification strategy.
- Find alternative sources faster: Search for qualified suppliers outside of affected trade lanes to reduce risk and maintain supply continuity.
