An administration official said any reporting about changes to the current U.S. tariff regime is baseless speculation unless officially announced. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)
February 13, 2026 1:49 PM, EST
Key Takeaways:
- The Trump administration is considering narrowing steel and aluminum tariffs that companies and the EU say are difficult to navigate.
- Derivative product duties have created operational challenges, prompting the U.S. Trade Representative to explore adjustments.
- Potential changes carry implications for the U.S.-EU trade deal and come amid political pressure over tariff impacts.
The Trump administration is working to narrow its broad tariffs on steel and aluminum products that companies find difficult to calculate and that the European Union wants reined in as part of its pending trade deal with the U.S., a person familiar with the matter said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is scrambling to resolve complications created last year by the Commerce Department’s rush to implement President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda, the person said.
The White House has told companies that adjustments are in the works, but details and timing remain unclear, the person said.
The rollback plans were reported earlier by the Financial Times. Aluminum and other metals fell following the report, while shares of U.S. steelmakers and aluminum producers sank.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said any reporting about changes to the current U.S. tariff regime is baseless speculation unless announced by the administration. Trump will never compromise on reinvigorating domestic manufacturing of steel, aluminum and other key products, the official said.
The effort comes as Trump faces low approval ratings on the economy from Americans concerned about the cost of living, a dynamic that poses political risks for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
50% Levies
Trump last year imposed a 50% levy on foreign steel and aluminum in a measure aimed at Chinese overcapacity. The move also hit other major trading partners, including Canada, the EU, Mexico and South Korea.
Later added to the list were so-called derivative products containing the metals, creating an arduous task for companies to identify the percentage of those materials in goods sourced from overseas.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged two months ago that “there’s some complexity” with the derivatives tariffs and that he has heard from “a lot of folks.”
He said he discussed the difficulties with Customs and Border Protection and that he was “very open” to feedback.
Customs ‘Challenges’
“We’re committed to making it as smooth as possible,” Greer said during an Atlantic Council forum on Dec. 10. “Naturally, when you are moving trade policy that’s been more or less the same for 70 years to a new outcome, and you’re changing the tariff regimes, there are going to be challenges in making it operational.”
Trump’s taxes on U.S. imports have also come under increased scrutiny this week in Congress, where the House voted to roll back his duties on Canadian products. Separate reports by the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said American consumers and businesses are shouldering most of the costs of his tariffs. That contradicts the president’s repeated assertions that they’re paid by foreign exporters.
The U.S. Supreme Court is also expected to rule on the legality of Trump’s global tariffs as soon as next week.
Ending or scaling back the derivative tariffs would be a positive step for the U.S.-EU trade accord. A framework for the deal was negotiated last year but remains only partially implemented.
The EU still faces a 50% U.S. duty on steel and aluminum exports as well as on many other derivative products. Washington revises the list of derivative items subject to the higher rate several times a year.
The EU is particularly concerned that the breadth of goods hit by the 50% metals tariff — covering hundreds of items — and potential new, higher levies on different industries could dilute the EU-U.S. trade deal and its agreed 15% tariff ceiling, Bloomberg has previously reported.
