8 September 2025 – Last Friday, US aluminum premiums once again recorded an increase to a new all-time high, continuing the upward trend that has persisted for months. Was the European Union really unaware of the extension of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, even though this had already been announced in February 2025?
US Aluminum Premiums rise again
On Friday, US aluminum premiums once again reached a new record high. They rose from USD 0.71/lbs to USD 0.73/lbs (+3.6%). There is still no sign of a decline in aluminum premiums for immediately available aluminum on the US market, which have been rising continuously for months.
Expansion of US Section 232 Tariffs: Did the EU Really Know Nothing?
It is repeatedly claimed that US tariffs on steel and aluminum are “new” or came as a complete surprise. Yet these tariffs were already introduced in 2018 by US President Donald Trump-during his first term. At that time, they stood at 25% on steel products and 15% on aluminum. Some countries received so-called Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs). The European Union was not among them. Only under the Biden Administration were Europeans able to benefit for a few years from their own TRQ.
Section 232 adjustments since February 2025
Shortly after Donald Trump took office again in January 2025, he adjusted and expanded Section 232 tariffs on 10 February. Among other measures, well-known mechanisms such as certain General Approved Exclusions (GAEs), TRQs, and the exclusions process were eliminated. In return, aluminum tariffs were raised to 25% and the 25% tariffs extended to certain steel and aluminum derivatives.
S232 inclusion investigation known since February
Already in the proclamations issued by President Trump in February 2025 it was made clear that further adjustments concerning derivatives and other downstream products could be expected within a few months. The US government subsequently launched a public Section 232 inclusion process, the results of which came into effect on 18 August 2025, placing several hundred products containing steel and aluminum under the now-applicable 50% tariffs.
- Proclamation 10895 – Adjusting Imports of Aluminum, 10 February 2025
- Proclamation 10896 – Adjusting Imports of Steel, 10 February 2025
- Federal Register – Section 232 Inclusion Process, 19 August 2025
Nevertheless, European media, politicians, and the steel lobby were quick to portray these as entirely new tariffs.
Massive criticism of EU-US trade deal from Europe
Massive criticism also arose when the European Commission reached a trade deal with the United States at the end of July 2025. Overall, the outcome was widely viewed as unsatisfactory due to its vague results, but the Commission nevertheless attempted to present the general 15% tariffs, some exemptions or reduced rates, energy purchases, and investment commitments as a baseline success. Already obvious at the time: exemptions from Section 232 tariffs would not be granted for the foreseeable future.
When the results of the Section 232 inclusion investigation and its expansion were announced, export-oriented European businesses quickly raised complaints that these tariffs would severely impact their operations.
Did the Chair of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee really know nothing?
Particularly sharp criticism had already been voiced when the US-EU trade deal was announced, including by Bernd Lange (S&D, SPD), Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA). According to media reports, he said last week that “there is no security or predictability” in US trade policy.
What the INTA Chair did not mention, however, is that this expansion was not at all a surprise. It had already been announced in February 2025. Moreover, the Liberation Day tariffs and the Section 232 tariffs are two entirely independent measures of the US government. While the legality of the Liberation Day tariffs is still being challenged in the United States, Section 232 tariffs, after several court rulings, are now considered almost legally unassailable.
Total failure: Is EU politics deflecting from its lack of awareness?
In this way, the SPD politician and INTA Chair appears to deflect from the fact that he himself was apparently unaware of the Section 232 expansion, which had been underway for months, and therefore failed to issue any warning. Even the European Commission seems either not to have been aware of the process or simply failed to address it.
From this perspective, the situation points clearly to a total failure on the part of INTA Chair Bernd Lange as well as the European Commission. Instead, they prefer to sit proudly at so-called breakfast meetings with heavily lobbied CEOs of domestic steel producers, union representatives, and dubiously acting associations, supposedly to prevent the collapse of the domestic steel industry. Meanwhile, they speculate on how EU protectionism only further blocks Europe itself, all while claiming to enforce “our values” globally.
Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group, commented today: “It is simply incomprehensible how one can appoint a socialist as the head of a trade working group. A socialist has about as much understanding of trade and markets as a communist has of making money. I have often asked myself the same question with regard to the socialist Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.”
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