US Drops Section 232 Aluminium Tariffs on Fishing Reels and Landing Nets — What It Means for Chinese Exporters

US tariffs on fishing reels, reel accessories and landing nets were removed from the start of this April, following a proclamation issued by President Donald Trump that adjusted duties on certain aluminium-based products.

The action — formally titled “Strengthening Actions Taken to Adjust Importations of Aluminium, Steel and Copper into the US” — modified Section 232 aluminium duties on a range of imported goods, including specific recreational fishing equipment. Fishing reels, reel accessories and landing nets are no longer subject to the aluminium tariff beginning April 6.

A Narrow but Meaningful Relief

The removal targets precisely the kind of products where China dominates global manufacturing. Fishing reels — from budget spinning reels to premium baitcasters — and landing nets are among the most aluminium-intensive items in the tackle supply chain, and the Section 232 duties had added a hard cost layer to every container shipped across the Pacific.

For Chinese OEM suppliers, the change matters in three ways:

Lower landed cost. The tariff removal directly reduces the duty burden on reel and net shipments to the US, restoring some of the price competitiveness eroded since the duties were first imposed.

Pricing flexibility. With one tariff layer gone, exporters and their US distributor partners regain room to negotiate — either passing savings to retailers to defend shelf space, or rebuilding margins that had been squeezed through years of tariff surcharges.

A signal amid broader uncertainty. The proclamation is category-specific, not a reset of trade policy. Broader tariff uncertainty on other tackle categories and on steel/copper products remains, and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) has continued to press the administration on wider industry relief.

What Importers Should Do

The American Sportfishing Association — the body that represents the industry in the region — advised importers to review the proclamation carefully and confirm which HTS classifications are covered. Importers who paid Section 232 duties on eligible reel and landing-net shipments may also need to examine whether drawback or refund opportunities apply, depending on entry timing and customs treatment.

For Chinese manufacturers, the practical advice from the trade is simpler: re-check landed-cost calculations for US-bound reel and net orders, and communicate the change to distributor partners so the benefit is reflected in forward pricing — rather than absorbed quietly into margins.

The removal is one of the few pro-trade adjustments for fishing tackle in recent years, and it comes at a moment when US-bound order flow has been volatile. For the reel factories of Weihai, Ningbo and Guangdong, every percentage point of cost relief matters in a market where buyers have been slow to commit to forward orders.

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