The news: President Donald Trump expanded his steel and aluminum tariffs to cover 407 consumer goods that either contain, or are packaged in, aluminum or steel. The scope is wide-ranging, hitting everything from baby booster seats to microwave ovens to personal care products that come in metal containers or packaging.

The big challenge: Importers and customs brokers had little warning. The change was posted Friday on the US Customs and Border Protection site and published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, leaving businesses scrambling.

• “This one was unique … it’s very much a ‘gotcha,’” Shannon Bryant, president of Trade IQ, told Bloomberg, noting that unlike earlier tariff rollouts, no exemptions were granted for goods already in transit. The compliance burden is also steep, as importers must determine what percentage of each product is made from targeted materials.
• Guidance remains inconsistent—especially for shipments already en route—and it’s still unclear whether these metals duties stack on top of existing country-by-country tariffs.

The takeaway: The sweeping scope and sudden rollout underscore that tariff uncertainty isn’t going away—and could easily intensify. With US consumers now facing the highest average effective tariff rate since 1933, the ripple effects are clear: Higher costs will flow downstream, squeezing retailers and dampening consumer spending.