Importing aluminum from Korea into the United States in September 2026 means a 50 percent Section 232 duty on the full customs value of sheet, foil, extrusions, and other aluminum articles, with KORUS removing only the ordinary duty underneath. Into the European Union, the free trade agreement removes duty on goods that meet its origin rules, against a valid origin declaration, and CBAM prices the embedded carbon. The landed cost turns on classification, smelt origin, and paperwork.
The overview of Korea’s aluminum industry and its producers covers who makes what. This piece covers what a shipment costs once it leaves a Korean port, which instruments set that number, and where importers lose money.
Data current as of September 2026.
What Tariffs Apply to Korean Aluminum Entering the United States?
Korean aluminum articles pay 50 percent under Section 232, assessed on the full customs value of the goods regardless of metal content, for entries on or after April 6, 2026 (Proclamation 11021, signed April 2, 2026). Korea has no country exemption for mill products; its reduced rate in the table below covers only Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment and machinery.
The rate went to 25 percent for all countries under Proclamation 10895 of February 10, 2025, then to 50 percent from June 4, 2025 under Proclamation 10947. Proclamation 11021 added full value and the annexes below.
| Product group (Korean origin) | Section 232 rate | Instrument and effective date |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum articles and derivatives listed in Annex I-A, including sheet, plate, foil, and extrusions | 50 percent | Proclamation 11021, April 6, 2026 |
| Derivative articles listed in Annex I-B | 25 percent | Proclamation 11021, April 6, 2026 |
| Annex III industrial and grid equipment, widened to agricultural equipment and certain residential HVAC | Ordinary duty plus Section 232 totals 15 percent, through December 31, 2027, then the Annex I-B rate | Proclamations 11021 and 11032, April 6 and June 8, 2026 |
| Annex I-C mobile industrial equipment and machinery | Ordinary duty plus Section 232 totals 15 percent for Korean products (25 percent general rate), through December 31, 2027 | Proclamation 11032, June 8, 2026 |
| Any aluminum smelted or cast in Russia | 200 percent | Proclamation 10522, continued by Proclamation 11021 |
| Country of smelt or cast reported as unknown | 200 percent | CBP CSMS 65340246, June 28, 2025 |
Proclamation 11032, signed June 1, 2026, also pulled aluminum lithographic plates into derivative coverage. Proclamation 11045 of July 20, 2026 leaves every rate in place; its half rate applies only to primary aluminum imported under approved U.S. smelter plans.
The US-Korea Strategic Trade and Investment Deal capped combined ordinary and Section 232 duty on Korean automobiles and auto parts at 15 percent from November 1, 2025, and on timber and lumber products from November 14, 2025 (USTR notice, December 4, 2025). Aluminum stayed at 50 percent.
Trade remedies sit on top. No U.S. antidumping or countervailing duty order covers Korean aluminum extrusions: the USITC voted negative on October 30, 2024 (89 FR 92720), so Commerce issued no order. Common alloy sheet from Korea sits outside the 2021 U.S. orders: Commerce’s final dumping determination of March 8, 2021 was negative (86 FR 13307), and the investigation was terminated (86 FR 14338). Foil and aluminum wire and cable are the exceptions. On November 27, 2023 Commerce found that foil completed in Korea from Chinese-origin foil or sheet circumvents the AD and CVD orders on aluminum foil from China (A-570-053, C-570-054; 88 FR 82824), with cash deposits on entries from July 18, 2022. A determination published January 27, 2025 found the same for wire and cable completed in Korea from Chinese-origin aluminum rod, wire, or wire strand, under the China wire and cable orders (90 FR 8183), with deposits from October 19, 2023; five named Korean cable makers, LS Cable & System among them, may not certify. For both, an entry escapes only with an importer certification, signed by entry summary, and an exporter certification, signed by shipment, that no covered Chinese-origin input was used.
What Does KORUS Still Do for Korean Aluminum?
KORUS removes the ordinary U.S. duty, the line underneath Section 232. The 2026 Harmonized Tariff Schedule sets general rates of 3 percent on unclad alloy aluminum sheet (7606.12.30), 5 percent on alloy profiles (7604.29.10), and 5.8 percent on foil no thicker than 0.01 mm (7607.11.30), all free for originating Korean goods under the special program indicator KR (USITC, 2026).
A missing KORUS claim stacks avoidable ordinary duty on the 50 percent charge. Under 19 CFR 10.1003 and 10.1004, the importer claims at entry summary with the KR prefix, on a written certification from the importer, exporter, or producer that the importer holds when it files.
Origin follows the tariff shift rules in General Note 33. Sheet of 7606.11 or 7606.91 qualifies from any other heading, so a Korean mill rolling imported ingot creates originating product, and foil of 7607.11 rolled from imported foilstock qualifies the same way. Alloy sheet of 7606.12 or 7606.92 cannot qualify from headings 7604 through 7606, so a service center cutting imported alloy plate creates no Korean origin. The same rule catches a re-roller cold rolling imported alloy hot coil, which already sits in heading 7606; a mill casting its own slab starts from heading 7601 and qualifies. Extrusions of 7604 qualify from any heading except 7605 and 7606. Ask the supplier whether it cast slab, bought hot coil, or bought finished sheet.
How Do Smelt and Cast Rules Change the Landed Cost?
U.S. importers report primary and secondary country of smelt, meaning the countries that produced the largest and second largest volume of the new metal from alumina, and country of most recent cast, where the metal was last melted and cast solid (CBP CSMS 55438432, 2023). Korea has no primary smelter, so both smelt countries on a Korean product are foreign. The cast country is Korea when the mill casts its own slab or billet, as Novelis Korea does with sheet ingot at its Ulsan recycling center (Novelis, April 2025). An entry reporting any of them as unknown files under 9903.85.67 or 9903.85.68 and pays the 200 percent Russian rate (CBP CSMS 65340246, effective June 28, 2025). The guide to sourcing aluminum extrusions from Korea sets out how to make those declarations a purchase order condition.
Smelt origin also decides drawback. Proclamation 11021 restored manufacturing drawback only for Annex I-B and Annex III articles that are products of Trade Agreement Partners (the UK, the EU, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Canada, and future reciprocal trade partners), whose aluminum was entirely smelted and cast in a partner country, and that sit outside any antidumping or countervailing duty order. Annex I-A articles, the sheet, foil, and extrusions most buyers import, get no drawback. Keep the smelter certificate in the drawback file.
What Does the EU Charge on Korean Aluminum?
Korean aluminum that meets the chapter 76 origin rules takes the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement preference, applied from July 1, 2011, which cuts the EU conventional duty of 7.5 percent on sheet of 7606, alloy bars and profiles of 7604, and foil of 7607.11 to zero (Common Customs Tariff, Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, 2026 rates; Council Decision 2011/265/EU).
Annex II of the origin protocol requires sheet of heading 7606, and extrusions of 7604, to be made from materials of another heading, with the value of all materials used, originating or not, at no more than 50 percent of the ex-works price; foil of 7607 needs materials outside headings 7606 and 7607 (EU-Korea FTA, Official Journal L 127, 14.5.2011). Korean foil rolled from imported foilstock therefore meets KORUS and fails the EU rule. Purchased ingot or slab counts in full toward the 50 percent cap, so get the mill’s ex-works value calculation before pricing on preference. The claim rests on an origin declaration on the commercial invoice: above EUR 6,000 it must come from an approved exporter authorised by its own customs authority, the Korea Customs Service for a Korean mill, and any exporter may make it out below that value (EU Delegation to Korea, EU-Korea FTA rules of origin).
CBAM has been in its definitive regime since January 1, 2026, and aluminium is a covered sector (European Commission, 2026). An EU importer bringing in more than 50 tonnes of CBAM goods a year must hold authorised CBAM declarant status, declare embedded emissions, and surrender matching certificates, reduced under Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 to reflect the free allowances EU producers still receive; the CBAM factor sets those at 97.5 percent of benchmark free allocation in 2026 (Directive 2003/87/EC, Article 10a(1a)). The Commission set the certificate price at EUR 75.36 per tonne of CO2 for the first quarter of 2026 and EUR 75.28 for the second, published April 7 and July 6, 2026, and certificates are bought on the common central platform from February 2027.
CBAM counts only direct emissions for aluminium (Regulation (EU) 2023/956, Article 7(1) and Annex II). A rolled coil carries its smelter’s direct emissions, so a Korean mill’s verified data depends on its ingot suppliers; a mill that cannot pass that data through leaves you on default values. Documented recycled content lowers the embedded figure, and what a Korean mill can actually evidence for that claim, against what it is only relaying from its ingot supplier, is worked through in the guide to Korea green aluminum, recycled content and CBAM proof. For a U.S. entry, only product made entirely from recycled aluminum reports its country of origin as secondary smelt, a case CBP calls uncommon (CSMS 64384496, 2025); blended coil still needs the smelt countries of its primary metal. Get the mill’s scrap-sourcing declaration before relying on recycled content in either market.
What Happens on the Korean Side Before the Ship Sails?
The Korean exporter files an export declaration with the Korea Customs Service, and once it is accepted the goods must be loaded within 30 days (Customs Act Article 251). Customs can extend that within a one year limit or cancel the acceptance, so cargo held for a late letter of credit amendment can need a fresh declaration.
Settle origin paperwork in the purchase order. For the United States, ask the producer for a KORUS certification; a trading house exporting for a mill certifies on the mill’s written information. For the EU, confirm the approved exporter number. For both, require smelt and cast country on the mill test certificate, since the U.S. entry needs it and the CBAM declaration builds on it.
How Does the Freight Leg From Busan Work?
For an aluminum order, payload and packing set the constraints.
Coil and sheet move in containers up to the payload limit, which caps coil weight before a buyer’s uncoiler does; the guide to Korean aluminum sheet and coil suppliers gives the numbers and the transit calendar. Coil heavier than a container allows moves breakbulk, with more handling and a longer schedule. Extrusions are long and light, so freight prices on volume.
Condensation is aluminum’s particular freight risk: water stains form on bright sheet or foil when cold metal meets warm, humid air. Specify sealed wrap and dry timber, and write down how a stained coil is judged on arrival.
On the U.S. side, the importer security filing must reach CBP no later than 24 hours before the cargo is loaded at the Korean port of lading (19 CFR Part 149). The Section 232 base is transaction value, which excludes international freight and insurance when they are identified separately, so a CIF quote with a stated freight line does not raise the duty.
Where Do Companies Lose Money Importing Aluminum from Korea?
Five paperwork mistakes recur.
- Classification left to the broker. Annex I-A against Annex I-B is 50 against 25 percent, and processing in Korea can move a product between them.
- Smelt origin undocumented. An unknown entry pays 200 percent, more than any price gap between Korean suppliers.
- No KORUS claim. Up to 6.5 percent of ordinary duty (clad alloy sheet, 7606.12.60) paid for lack of a certificate.
- CBAM on default values. An EU buyer without the mill’s verified emissions pays for carbon on defaults.
- Chinese feedstock. Korean foil, or aluminum wire and cable, entered without the importer and exporter certifications pays China’s AD/CVD cash deposits.
For busbars, cell cans, and other battery parts that often classify outside chapter 76, see the guide to aluminum in Korea’s EV and battery supply chain. Inquivix Technologies covers the wider trade flows in its overview of aluminum trade and exports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the US tariff on aluminum imported from Korea in 2026?
Aluminum articles from Korea, including sheet, plate, foil, and extrusions, pay 50 percent under Section 232 on full customs value since April 6, 2026 (Proclamation 11021). Annex I-B derivatives pay 25 percent. Annex III equipment and Annex I-C mobile machinery from Korea carry a combined 15 percent through December 31, 2027. Metal smelted or cast in Russia, or reported with an unknown country of smelt or cast, pays 200 percent.
Does KORUS make Korean aluminum duty free in the United States?
Only the ordinary duty. KORUS removes general rates such as 3 percent on alloy sheet and 5.8 percent on thin foil for goods that meet the General Note 33 tariff shift rules, claimed with the KR indicator. Section 232 applies on top in full, and the November 2025 US-Korea deal left the 50 percent aluminum rate unchanged. File the KORUS claim anyway, because the ordinary duty is avoidable.
Does Korean aluminum pay CBAM when imported into the EU?
Yes. CBAM covers aluminium and has been in its definitive regime since January 1, 2026. Importers above 50 tonnes of CBAM goods a year must be authorised declarants and surrender certificates for direct embedded emissions, net of the free allocation adjustment, priced at EUR 75.36 and EUR 75.28 per tonne of CO2 for the first two quarters of 2026. CBAM applies whether or not the goods take the EU-Korea FTA preference.
What happens if the country of smelt for Korean aluminum is unknown?
The U.S. entry must report “UN” and file under heading 9903.85.67 or 9903.85.68, which applies the 200 percent Section 232 rate set for Russian aluminum (CBP CSMS 65340246, effective June 28, 2025). Korea has no primary smelter, so both smelt countries are foreign unless the product is made entirely from recycled aluminum, and the cast country is Korea when the mill casts its own slab. Make primary and secondary smelt and most recent cast a condition of the purchase order.
What Should Be Settled Before Importing Aluminum from Korea?
Korean aluminum lands into the United States and Europe at a predictable cost once classification, smelt origin, and origin claims are settled before the goods ship. Aluminum coil, sheet, and foil supply in specific alloys is handled by Inquivix Technologies. To discuss a Korean aluminum import, its tariff exposure, or the freight leg, write to joon@joonklee.com or use the contact page.
