Market Wire
Steel Imports Jump to $2.2 billion in August 2026
U.S. steel imports totalled $2.2 billion in August 2026, up 3.8% on the month and up 17.2% on the year. The common full-year customs-unit-value comparison (2025 over 2024) shows: steel bar, rod, and wire customs unit values fell 11.5%, and steel pipe and tube customs unit values fell 11.4%. These aggregates can also move with product, grade, origin, valuation, or quantity mix.
Customs unit-value context, by family
- Steel Bar, Rod, and Wire: customs unit value down 11.5% in 2025, observed effective calculated-duty rate 22.1%, $2.9 billion of annual customs value
- Steel Pipe and Tube: customs unit value down 11.4% in 2025, observed effective calculated-duty rate 25.6%, $6.9 billion of annual customs value
- Steel Flat-rolled Products: customs unit value down 5.3% in 2025, observed effective calculated-duty rate 23.9%, $6.6 billion of annual customs value
The full-year customs unit values add context but do not split this monthly customs-value move into price and physical volume. They are aggregate ratios across products and origins, not matched-item price indexes, and their 2025 reporting period differs from the monthly flow above.
Import figures are census customs values — landed cost adds duty and freight on top, which is where the effective tariff rates bite. Source: Census International Trade.
Published 2026-10-16.