German Economic Institute (IW) data shows that total US steel and aluminum imports fell by 8.5% during the period from August 2025 to May 2026 compared to the same timeframe in the previous year.
Among them, imports from China dropped 34% by roughly US$7.9 billion, and imports from Germany decreased 10.5% by nearly US$1.2 billion. Germany’s US market share slid 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%, ranking fourth in global declines behind China, South Korea, and Canada.
On the contrary, imports from Thailand rose 31% with a 1.3 percentage point market share increase to 4.4%, alongside growth from Vietnam, Japan, and India.
China faced a high 48% effective tariff compared to 21% for Germany. Recent US tariff adjustments on specific related products granted Germany and the European Union a slight advantage over China, though trade experts warn that high additional duties will continue hindering German exporters.