Steel and metal importers are among the hardest-hit by tariff complexity over the past several years. Between Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, Section 301 China tariffs, and IEEPA surcharges, the duty burden on metal imports has been staggering. The Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump creates a recovery opportunity — but only on the IEEPA component. Understanding which tariffs are refundable and which are not is critical before you invest time and resources in a recovery claim.
This guide breaks down what steel and metal importers can recover, what they can’t, and how to maximize the refund on eligible entries. For the full recovery framework, see the complete guide to IEEPA tariff refunds.
The critical distinction: IEEPA vs. Section 232
This is the single most important concept for steel importers to understand. Not all tariffs on steel are the same, and not all are refundable.
Section 232 tariffs (NOT refundable)
Section 232 tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) were imposed in March 2018 under the authority of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, based on national security findings. These tariffs:
- Were authorized under a different statute than IEEPA
- Were not struck down by the Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling
- Remain in effect as of this writing
- Are not eligible for refund under the IEEPA recovery process
The Supreme Court’s ruling specifically addressed tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Section 232 tariffs have a separate legal basis that was not challenged in the Learning Resources case.
IEEPA tariffs (refundable)
IEEPA tariffs were a separate layer imposed beginning February 2025 under executive action citing IEEPA authority. These surcharges were in addition to any existing Section 232 duties. For steel imports from China, for example, an importer might have paid:
- Standard MFN duty rate (varies by product, typically 0-6.5%)
- Section 232 tariff (25% on steel products)
- Section 301 tariff (varies, often 7.5-25%)
- IEEPA surcharge (20-145% depending on the specific executive order)
Only the IEEPA surcharge is recoverable. The Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs remain in place and are not affected by the Supreme Court ruling.
| Tariff Type | Authority | Rate (Steel) | Refundable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFN Duty | Tariff Act | 0-6.5% | No |
| Section 232 | Trade Expansion Act | 25% | No |
| Section 301 | Trade Act of 1974 | 7.5-25% | No |
| IEEPA Surcharge | IEEPA | 20-145% | Yes |
If you only paid Section 232 tariffs on your steel imports and no IEEPA surcharge was assessed, you have no IEEPA recovery claim. Check your entry summaries for HTS 9903.01 or 9903.02 codes — these indicate IEEPA surcharges. Section 232 duties appear under different HTS headings (typically 9903.80 series).
Which steel and metal products had IEEPA surcharges
IEEPA surcharges applied based on country of origin, not product type. Any steel or metal product imported from a covered country during the IEEPA period (February 2025 - February 2026) was subject to the IEEPA surcharge on top of any other applicable duties.
Common steel and metal products with IEEPA exposure include:
Flat-rolled products: Hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled sheet, galvanized steel, tinplate. These are high-volume imports often sourced from China, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. If the country of origin was covered by IEEPA tariffs, the surcharge applied.
Long products: Rebar, structural beams, wire rod, bars, and angles. Construction-grade steel imports were heavily affected, especially for importers sourcing from China.
Pipe and tube: Line pipe, OCTG (oil country tubular goods), standard pipe, mechanical tubing. The energy sector imports significant volumes of these products from covered countries.
Stainless steel: Flat products, bars, wire, and fittings. The IEEPA surcharge on China-origin stainless steel was particularly impactful given China’s dominant market position.
Aluminum products: Sheet, extrusions, foil, castings, and forgings. Aluminum faced both Section 232 (10%) and IEEPA surcharges — but only the IEEPA component is recoverable.
Non-ferrous metals: Copper, nickel, zinc, and their alloys. Depending on country of origin, these may have been subject to IEEPA surcharges.
Specialty metals: Titanium, tungsten, rare earth metals, and superalloys. These often come from China and were subject to the highest IEEPA rates.
Calculating your steel import IEEPA recovery
The recovery calculation for steel requires careful separation of duty components. Here’s the methodology:
Step 1: Pull your entry data
Request the ES-003 report from your customs broker for all steel and metal entries from February 2025 through February 2026. Filter for entries with HTS 9903.01 or 9903.02 codes (IEEPA surcharges).
Step 2: Isolate the IEEPA component
For each entry, the ES-003 report shows duty assessed by HTS line. Identify the line items under the IEEPA headings and sum those amounts. Do not include Section 232 duties, Section 301 duties, or MFN duties — those are not recoverable.
Step 3: Account for exclusions
During the IEEPA period, certain steel products received temporary exclusions from IEEPA surcharges. If any of your entries received an exclusion, the IEEPA duty on those entries may already be zero or reduced. Your broker can identify exclusion entries.
Step 4: Calculate statutory interest
Statutory interest accrues from the date you paid the duty to the date CBP issues the refund. The interest rate under 19 U.S.C. Section 1505 is set quarterly. For a $5 million IEEPA duty payment made in mid-2025 and refunded in late 2027, the interest could add $200,000-$400,000 to the recovery.
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Industry-specific recovery challenges for steel
Steel importers face some unique challenges in the IEEPA recovery process:
High-volume entry portfolios
Large steel distributors and service centers may have thousands of entries from the IEEPA period. Each entry needs to be individually evaluated for liquidation status, IEEPA duty amount, and recovery path. The sheer volume makes systematic data management essential — the operations manager’s guide to IEEPA data covers the workflow for high-volume portfolios.
Multiple duty layers complicate classification
With Section 232, Section 301, IEEPA, and MFN duties all potentially applied to the same entry, errors in classification are more common. An entry might have the IEEPA surcharge applied to a product that was actually exempt (because the country of origin was excluded), or the IEEPA surcharge might be missing from an entry that should have been assessed. A classification review can identify both overpayments (additional recovery) and underpayments (potential liability).
Anti-dumping and countervailing duty interaction
Many steel products from China and other countries are also subject to anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties. These are separate from IEEPA and are not refundable under the Supreme Court ruling. However, the interaction between AD/CVD entries and IEEPA recovery can be complex — particularly for entries that are still under AD/CVD administrative review. Consult your trade attorney on these entries.
Contractual pass-through implications
Steel is often sold on a cost-plus or index-plus basis, with explicit tariff surcharges passed through to buyers. If your company added a tariff surcharge to customer invoices, the IEEPA recovery may trigger downstream claims from customers. Review your sales contracts and surcharge agreements.
Recovery paths for steel importers
The standard four recovery paths apply to steel imports:
Post-Summary Corrections for unliquidated entries — the fastest path. Steel entries from mid-to-late 2025 may still be unliquidated, especially if they’re involved in AD/CVD administrative reviews that suspend liquidation. Check the liquidation status of every entry.
Formal protests for liquidated entries within the 180-day window. This is the standard path for entries that have liquidated but are still within the filing deadline.
CIT litigation for entries outside the protest window. Given the clear legal precedent, CIT cases for IEEPA refunds should be straightforward — but they require CIT-admitted counsel and involve legal fees.
Immediate capital for importers who prefer certainty. Large steel importers with multi-million-dollar IEEPA claims may find the immediate capital path attractive — converting the claim to cash in weeks rather than waiting 18-36 months for government processing.
Sourcing implications going forward
The IEEPA ruling changes the landed cost calculation for steel imports from covered countries. Here’s what matters for sourcing:
China-origin steel becomes more competitive retroactively. With the IEEPA surcharge removed and refunded, the effective cost of Chinese steel imported during the tariff period drops significantly. However, Section 232 and AD/CVD duties remain, so Chinese steel still carries a substantial duty burden.
Supply chain diversification still makes sense. Even without IEEPA tariffs, the combined Section 232 + Section 301 + AD/CVD burden on Chinese steel is significant. Importers who diversified to Canada and Mexico or other sources shouldn’t reverse those decisions based solely on the IEEPA ruling.
Future tariff risk. The IEEPA ruling doesn’t prevent future tariffs under other legal authorities. Steel has been a frequent target of trade restrictions regardless of which administration is in power. Factor this into your long-range sourcing strategy.
Quantifying the opportunity for steel importers
The numbers vary dramatically based on volume and country mix, but here are illustrative ranges:
| Annual Import Volume | Country Mix | Estimated IEEPA Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| $10M | 50% China | $1.5M - $7.3M |
| $50M | 30% China, 20% other covered | $5M - $15M |
| $100M+ | Mixed covered countries | $10M - $50M+ |
These estimates assume the IEEPA surcharge was assessed at the applicable rate for the country of origin during the full tariff period. Actual amounts depend on product classification, country mix, and any exclusions obtained.
The service center and distributor perspective
Steel service centers and metal distributors are the intermediary link between producers and end users. Their IEEPA exposure has unique characteristics:
High entry volume. A mid-size service center might have 500-2,000 entries from the IEEPA period, each representing a different shipment of steel coil, plate, sheet, or product. The sheer volume makes systematic data management essential — manual tracking breaks down at this scale. The operations manager’s guide to IEEPA data covers the workflow for high-volume portfolios.
Inventory turns and cost allocation. Service centers process and resell steel, often within weeks of import. The IEEPA duty was capitalized into inventory and flowed through COGS as the steel was sold. The refund effectively reduces historical COGS, which may have implications for customer pricing and rebate calculations.
Customer surcharge pass-through. Many service centers added explicit tariff surcharges to their price lists during the IEEPA period. These surcharges were visible to buyers and created a direct link between the tariff cost and the price charged. When the refund arrives, customers may assert claims to a portion. The in-house counsel analysis covers the contractual framework.
Multi-origin blending. Service centers often carry inventory from multiple origins. A customer order might be filled from domestic, Canadian, or Chinese stock depending on availability and specification. The IEEPA recovery applies only to entries from covered countries — not to the blended average cost across all origins.
Construction industry impact
The construction sector consumes the largest share of imported steel. Rebar, structural beams, and reinforcing mesh from covered countries all carried IEEPA surcharges. General contractors and project owners who sourced directly may have IEEPA recovery rights. Subcontractors who purchased through distributors do not have direct claims but may have contractual pass-through provisions.
Project-based accounting. Construction companies that allocated IEEPA duty costs to specific projects need to consider how the recovery flows back. If a completed project’s budget included IEEPA-inflated material costs, the recovery may affect project close-out accounting, change order reconciliation, or owner reimbursement calculations.
Prevailing wage and government contracts. For public construction projects, the IEEPA recovery on imported steel may interact with Buy America provisions, cost-reimbursement contract terms, or government audit requirements. Review federal and state contract terms before applying recovery proceeds.
Filing strategy optimization for steel
Given the complexity of steel tariff layers, the filing strategy for steel importers should be particularly methodical:
Priority 1: File on entries where IEEPA is the only surcharge. These are the cleanest claims — no AD/CVD, no Section 232, just MFN duty plus IEEPA. The filing is straightforward and unlikely to face complications.
Priority 2: File on entries with IEEPA plus Section 232 only. The IEEPA surcharge is clearly separable from Section 232 in the HTS code structure. File for the IEEPA component only.
Priority 3: File on entries with IEEPA, Section 232, and AD/CVD. These require the most careful analysis to ensure the IEEPA surcharge is correctly isolated. If the entry is under AD/CVD administrative review with suspended liquidation, coordinate with your broker on the proper filing approach — a PSC on the IEEPA component may be possible even while the AD/CVD review continues.
Priority 4: Entries with classification questions. Set these aside for individual review. Don’t let entries with complications delay the filing of clean entries.
Next steps for steel and metal importers
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Separate your IEEPA exposure from Section 232 and other duties. This is the foundational step. Do not file for recovery on non-IEEPA duties.
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Check liquidation status on every entry. The 180-day protest window is running on liquidated entries. Don’t lose claims to missed deadlines.
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Coordinate with your customs broker on AD/CVD interaction. Entries with suspended liquidation under AD/CVD review need special handling.
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Review customer contracts for tariff surcharge provisions. If you passed costs through, prepare for downstream conversations.
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Request an Impact Assessment. For steel importers with complex, high-volume portfolios spanning multiple duty types, the Impact Assessment separates the recoverable IEEPA component from everything else and maps the recovery path for every entry.
The IEEPA recovery is significant for steel importers, but only if you correctly identify which duties are actually recoverable. Don’t conflate Section 232 with IEEPA — they’re different tariffs under different laws, and only one is coming back.
The scrap metal and recycling dimension
The steel recycling industry also interacts with IEEPA recovery:
Imported scrap and secondary metals. Some steel recyclers import scrap metal or secondary alloys from covered countries. These imports were subject to IEEPA surcharges based on the scrap’s country of origin. The recovery applies to these entries.
Recycled steel products. Finished steel products manufactured from recycled content but imported from covered countries carried the same IEEPA surcharges as virgin steel products. The recycled content doesn’t affect the IEEPA rate or recovery.
Export-import dynamics. The U.S. is both a major steel scrap exporter and a finished steel importer. The IEEPA recovery applies only to imports — not to any downstream effects on scrap export pricing.
The steel and metals sector has among the most complex tariff structures in all of trade law. The IEEPA recovery provides meaningful relief, but only on the IEEPA component. Get the separation right, file early, and don’t leave money behind.
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