Seven Section 232 orders now live
RBC reports there are now seven active Section 232 tariff orders — covering steel and aluminum at 50% each, autos and auto parts at 25%, plus measures on copper, timber and lumber, and medium/heavy trucks — and it says certain advanced semiconductors and manufacturing equipment have faced 25% tariffs since Jan. 15, 2026 (rbc.com). Markets continue to treat those trade measures as part of the policy backdrop even when day‑to‑day moves are driven by yields, oil, or sector-specific pain like recent software stock weakness ( ).
The United States now has seven live national-security tariff orders under Section 232, and they reach far beyond the old steel story most people remember. Royal Bank of Canada said this week the active list now spans steel, aluminum, autos, auto parts, copper, timber and lumber, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks. (rbc.com) Section 232 is a part of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 that lets a president restrict imports after a Commerce Department investigation says those imports threaten national security. That is why the legal label on a car part or a copper product can be “national security” even when the market effect looks like an ordinary tariff fight. (thompsonhinesmartrade.com) The rates are not small. Royal Bank of Canada says steel and aluminum are at 50%, while autos and auto parts are at 25%, which means a $40,000 imported vehicle can face a tariff bill measured in five figures before it reaches a dealer lot. (rbc.com) Copper joined the metals club in 2025, and the White House said last week that copper was added at the same 50% rate as steel and aluminum. On April 2, 2026, the administration also rewrote parts of the steel, aluminum, and copper system, with the new framework taking effect on April 6, 2026. (whitehouse.gov; perkinscoie.com) The list now reaches into factory gear too. Royal Bank of Canada says certain advanced semiconductors and the machines used to make them have faced 25% tariffs since January 15, 2026, which means the policy is hitting both finished goods and some of the equipment needed to build the next round of goods. (rbc.com) That helps explain why investors treat tariffs as background weather instead of a one-day headline. Royal Bank of Canada wrote that the measures have become part of the policy backdrop even when the day’s market move is really about bond yields, oil prices, or a selloff inside one sector. (rbc.com) You could see that in software stocks. Investing.com reported this week that Palantir and Microsoft were part of a fresh drop tied to fears that Anthropic’s new “Mythos” model could pressure software economics, which had nothing to do with metal tariffs but still landed in a market already carrying tariff risk in the background. (investing.com) A year after the April 2025 “Liberation Day” tariff push, Royal Bank of Canada says the trade deficit has not narrowed even though trade flows have been diverted. The result is a market that now has to price two things at once: the day’s immediate shock and a standing tariff structure spread across cars, metals, wood products, trucks, and chip equipment. (rbc.com) There may be more coming. Royal Bank of Canada said pending Section 232 investigations could still produce additional tariffs on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, so seven live orders may not be the ceiling. (rbc.com)
