Free Trade

Trump's Newest Tariffs Could Protect America From the National Security Risk of Brass Instruments

An idea that's wildly out of tune at a time when Americans are trumpeting their worries about affordability.

Eric Boehm | 8.5.2026 3:40 PM

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(Illustration: Midjourney)

For years, a major threat to America's national security has marched its way through halftime shows, band camps, and concert halls—undermining the nation's strategic ska supply and jeopardizing the domestic reserve of polka.

Finally, the Trump administration is taking action.

Brass instruments and their parts could soon be subject to additional tariffs as part of a proposal published this week by the Department of Commerce. Those new 25 percent import taxes would be an extension of the tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper that the Trump administration has imposed under the guise of protecting American national security.

The Commerce Department is seeking to extend those tariffs to a variety of products made from those three materials. The six-page document published this week invokes "national security" nine times as it explains why higher........

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