Trump rolls back steel and aluminum tariffs amid affordability crisis

The Financial Times reported on Feb. 13, 2026 that Trump plans to scale back some tariffs on steel and aluminum goods as he battles an affordability crisis that has sapped his approval ratings ahead of November's midterm elections. Officials in the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative's office believe the tariffs are hurting consumers by raising prices for goods including pie tins, food-and-drink cans, washing machines, and ovens. The administration is reviewing the list of products affected by the levies and plans to exempt some items.

Trump imposed tariffs of up to 50% on steel and aluminum imports in summer 2025 and has repeatedly used levies as a negotiating tool with trading partners. The U.S. Commerce Department hiked steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products including wind turbines, mobile cranes, appliances, bulldozers, heavy equipment, railcars, motorcycles, marine engines, and furniture. The tariffs include both the base metal tariffs and country-specific rates on non-steel and non-aluminum content.

Since Trump imposed the 50% tariffs, aluminum prices have surged 24% while steel has risen about 4%, heightening an affordability crisis faced by many Americans. On the London Metal Exchange, the benchmark three-month aluminum contract was trading at $3,063.50 per ton as of Feb. 14, 2026. The price increases have made consumer goods more expensive across the economy.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that only 30% of Americans approved of Trump's handling of the rising cost of living, while 59% disapproved. The disapproval included nine in 10 Democrats and one in five Republicans. Voters nationwide are worried about prices, and cost-of-living concerns are expected to be a major factor for Americans heading into the November midterm elections.

The administration plans to halt the expansion of the tariff lists and instead launch more targeted national security probes into specific goods. This contrasts with the previous sweeping approach of applying blanket 50% tariffs across hundreds of product categories. The White House is considering limiting which products remain subject to tariffs based on more specific national security analyses.

A 🗽New York Federal Reserve study released this week showed U.S. businesses and consumers paid nearly 90% of the cost of Trump's tariffs in 2025, contradicting Trump's claims that foreign countries pay the tariffs. A report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that these tariffs will amount to an average tax increase per U.S. household of $1,000 in 2025 and $1,300 in 2026.

The steel and aluminum rollback would be the latest of about half a dozen changes in Trump's tariff policy in recent months. Previous reversals included tariff reductions on Brazilian food products in November after Trump had imposed 50% tariffs on imports. Recent months also saw deals with India cutting many tariffs from 50% to 18% across a range of goods, and a deal with Taiwan that also saw some lower duties. Long-promised semiconductor tariffs in January were notable for their limited scope, with exclusions for entire companies and chips for internal U.S. consumption.