Trump cuts tariffs on farm, industrial gear in midterm-minded move

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order cutting tariffs on agricultural equipment and air conditioning systems from 25% to 15%, effective immediately and set to expire at the end of 2027.

The move is the largest tariff rollback since June 2025, when the administration hiked steel and aluminum duties to 50%. Analysts say the retreat is driven by farm-sector distress and political pressure ahead of midterm elections.

Trump's order, signed Monday, reduces the duty on combines, harvesters and HVAC units from 25% to 15%, according to the executive order. Bulldozers, forklifts and other mobile industrial equipment also become eligible for the 15% rate if imported from countries holding trade agreements with the United States. Products composed of at least 85% domestically melted or smelted metal by weight qualify for an even lower 10% duty.

"In my judgment, this temporary modification appropriately accounts for these products' roles in productive economic activity in the United States," Trump said in the order.

The tariffs trace back to 2018, when the first Trump administration imposed metal import duties under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Trump renewed the levies in April 2025. The administration then raised steel and aluminum tariffs to 50% in June 2025, and in April 2026 set a flat 50% rate for goods made almost entirely of aluminum, steel or copper, with 25% applied to substantially composed products.

Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School's Center for International Law, offered a sharper view of the order's timing. "Farm bankruptcies are soaring, farm sentiment is declining, and Republican senators are openly warning their party is heading toward midterm losses in key agricultural states," Appleton told The Korea Times. "This proclamation is the White House's response: throw the farm belt a bone before voters go to the polls."

South Korea holds a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States, meaning Korean-manufactured construction and industrial equipment could qualify for the lower 15% tier depending on product composition. Korean-American owned businesses in Orange County engaged in farming or construction may see reduced import costs on eligible equipment under the revised tariff schedule.

The temporary measures expire at the end of 2027, leaving unresolved whether Congress or a future administration will extend the lower rates or allow metal duties to revert to their current higher tiers.