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Aluminum Looks Like a 3% Duty Until Chapter 99 Gets Involved

Computed live from our HTS extract (23,193 lines, USITC REST vintage 2026-10-09T17:43Z), our 637-row Chapter 99 trade-remedy library (2026-10-10T15:40Z), the Section 338 Canada line map (2026-10-15T19:59Z) and our AD/CVD case feed: every count, rate and spread on this page was recomputed from the datasets at build time.

Look up any aluminum code on a competitor site and you will get a comforting answer. One popular calculator portal’s FAQ says Section 232 “imposes a 10% tariff on most aluminum imports, increased to 25% for certain countries” — while another page on the same domain calls the aluminum program 25–50%. A fintech guide rounds it to “about 50%”. Nobody is lying exactly; they are each quoting one slice of a schedule where the honest answer is a stack. Our copy of the tariff schedule tells the fuller story: chapter 76 — aluminum and articles thereof — contains 153 ten-digit lines whose median general rate is just 3.1% and whose ceiling is 6.5%, and then Chapter 99 puts up to five more layers on top of the same shipment.

The deceptively calm baseline

Chapter 76 is one of the quietest metal chapters in the schedule. Of its 153 lines, 21 enter Free outright, and among the 132 rated lines the rates cluster hard around the bottom: 27 lines sit at exactly 3.0% and another 25 at 5.7%, with nothing above 6.5%. Unwrought metal — heading 7601, the ingot that starts the value chain — is even calmer:

Two footnotes matter here. First, the non-reciprocal Column 2 schedule (Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Belarus) is not gentle anywhere in this chapter: it spans 9.5% to 45.5%, topping out on household and sanitary articles (7615). Second, aluminum scrap (7602) is so genuinely untaxed that both its general and Column 2 rates read Free — which makes everything that happens downstream of scrap look even stranger.

Five overlays that can legally attach to one aluminum entry

Every measure below is a standing row in our Chapter 99 library, keyed to aluminum either explicitly in its text or through the line-level maps we maintain:

Reach counts computed from data/trade_remedy.json (26 aluminum-touching rows), data/canada_s338_measures.json (664 line records, 9 in chapter 76), data/section301_origin.json (7,045 unique HTS8, 23 in chapter 76) and data/adcv_cases.json (211 case rows, 17 aluminum-touching).

The +200% Russia premium ignores free-trade agreements

Provisions 9903.85.67 and 9903.85.68 add 200 percentage points to aluminum articles — and derivative aluminum articles — where any amount of the primary aluminum was smelted in Russia, or the articles were cast there. What makes the pair remarkable is the special column: instead of the usual FTA-preference language, it repeats the +200% surcharge and appends a list of sixteen partners (AU, BH, CA, CL, CO, E, IL, JO, KR, MA, MX, OM, P, PA, PE, SG). In other words, the preference programs survive as labels, but the 200-point add-on applies anyway. For a trader blending Russian-smelted metal into otherwise third-country product, the smelter geography — not the flag of export — decides the bill.

A flat 100% hiding at 9903.27.14

Buried in the same Chapter 99 group as fuel oils, rare gases, diamonds and copper anodes sits one aluminum line: 9903.27.14, “Other unwrought aluminum alloys (provided for in subheading 7601.20.90)”, general rate 100%. The base rate for those very codes reads Free — so a lookup page that stops at column 1 reports the friendliest possible number for exactly the line a standing Chapter 99 provision prices at a flat century. Competitor single-code pages reproduce the string verbatim without connecting the two facts; the provision belongs to a 15-member 100% family (9903.27.01–.15) that also sweeps refrigerating equipment and silicon carbides. When your alloyed ingot invoice doubles, this is the row that did it.

AD/CVD: the newest layer is weeks old

Trade-remedy duties are where aluminum gets genuinely expensive. Our case feed tracks 17 aluminum-touching actions resolving to 14 distinct product×country×program pairs: aluminum extrusions and certain aluminum foil from China, foil from Türkiye and Oman, common alloy sheet from Bahrain, India, Oman, Türkiye and China, and disposable aluminum containers, pans, trays and lids from China. The freshest entry is a final order on Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet from the People’s Republic of China effective October 2, 2026 (FR Doc 2026-20256) — meaning importers who priced against last quarter’s snapshot are already quoting stale margins. Combined AD+CVD exposure on Chinese aluminum products has been publicly reported in the hundreds of percent for specific producers; the exact number depends on the respondent, which is precisely why per-case tracking beats a rounded blog figure.

Why the competitor numbers keep disagreeing

Put the SERP side by side and the “aluminum tariff” is quoted as 10%, 25%, 25–50% and “about 50%” — sometimes within one website. Each quote is defensible for one slice: 10% was the 2018-vintage rate for some derivates, 25% the long-running core rate, 50% the current worldwide note-16 default since the June 2026 adjustment, and +200% the Russia carve-out. None of the pages we checked enumerate the full ladder, because doing so requires line-level Chapter 99 data joined back to chapter 76 — which is exactly what our pipeline maintains as a first-class asset rather than a news item.

A five-step audit for your own aluminum line

1. Pin the ten-digit code; remember that within 7601 alone the general column splits three ways (Free, 2.1%, 2.6%) on metallurgy details like silicon share and cross-section.
2. Read the special column, but treat it as a starting discount, not an exemption — the Russia layer bills FTA partners too.
3. Check the 9903.82 note-16 family for your subdivision: +10% to +50% depending on product form and origin, with the UK running its own +25% subdivisions.
4. If origin is Canada, test the nine motor-vehicle-annex chapter-76 lines against 9903.03.14 (+50%). If origin is China, run the 23-code Section 301 set.
5. Before quoting anything with a lead time, sweep the AD/CVD roster — new final orders land monthly, and October’s already covers common alloy sheet.

Run the whole ladder in one place with the ExportSonar duty calculator; the mechanics of how add-ons compound are covered in our guide to how stacked tariffs compute to a total rate, the full measure inventory lives in the chapter-by-chapter trade-remedy map, and the Canada scenario is detailed in the Section 338 line map. Classification disputes on finished aluminum goods resolve against published precedent — see the ruling families for aluminum plates and sheets (7606.12) or browse current AD/CVD measures. If monitoring these layers manually sounds expensive, that is because it is: ExportSonar watches your codes and flags when a Chapter 99 provision touches them.

FAQ

What is the actual US import duty on aluminum?

The HTS base rate is only the first number. Across the 153 lines of chapter 76 the median general rate is 3.1% and the maximum is 6.5%, with 21 lines entering Free. But Chapter 99 measures stack on top: Section 232 metals duties add up to 50 points, a Russia-specific provision adds 200 points, Canadian motor-vehicle-annex lines carry an additional 50% under Section 338, and 14 product-country AD/CVD pairs are active.

How do Section 232, 301 and 338 stack on top of the HTS base rate?

They are separate Chapter 99 provisions, each added to the applicable subheading rate. Our trade-remedy extract carries 16 Section 232 note-16 provisions touching aluminum (adding 10%, 15%, 25% or 50% depending on the subdivision), Section 301 hits 23 unique chapter-76 eight-digit codes for China, and the Section 338 Canada annex reaches nine chapter-76 lines at plus 50%.

Which aluminum lines face the highest stacked duties?

On paper the extremes are provisions 9903.85.67 and 9903.85.68, which add 200 percentage points to articles of aluminum smelted or cast in Russia, and 9903.27.14, which imposes a flat 100% on other unwrought aluminum alloys classified in 7601.20.90. Non-NTR countries also face Column 2 rates across chapter 76 that range from 9.5% to 45.5% before any Chapter 99 layer.

Do FTA partners like Canada still pay the extra aluminum duties?

It depends on the layer. 132 of chapter 76's 153 lines carry preferential special-column rates, so the MFN base often shrinks for FTA partners. But the Russia +200% provision lists 16 FTA partners in its own special column and still adds the 200 points, and Canada currently faces the Section 338 motor-vehicle-annex surcharge of 50% on nine aluminum lines including several bar and profile codes.