Trade updates on Section 232 on steel and aluminum, and the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade
February 13, 2026
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- Potential reduced Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum: The Financial Times is reporting that President Trump is planning on scaling back some tariffs on steel and aluminum products. The article reports that the Administration is reviewing the list of goods affected by the 50% Section 232 tariff and plans to exempt some items. Further, the Administration may halt the expansion of lists and instead launch more targeted national security probes into specific goods. There has been no official publication from the U.S. government, and it is unclear which products will receive exemptions, or when these actions will happen.
- US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade published: Yesterday, Taiwan and the United States signed and published the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, including the tariff schedule. The agreement reduces the IEEPA reciprocal tariff rate from 20% to no more than 15% depending on the MFN rate (similar to the EU agreement). In addition, Taiwan will be granting duty-free treatment to some U.S. exports of food processing and packaging. We will be following up with additional analysis after we have fully reviewed the agreement. Taiwan is a top 10 sourcing country for U.S. imports of food processing and packaging machinery.
