The tariff applies specifically to drones deemed "particularly sensitive for national security purposes," including those with thermal imaging capabilities or a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 25 kilograms.
Smaller drones lacking sensitive capabilities, along with general drone components, will face a 25% tariff.
Drones and components from the European Union, Japan, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan will face a 15% tariff, while imports from the United Kingdom will be subject to a 10% rate. These preferential rates apply only if substantially all hardware, software, and technology originate from those countries or the United States.
The tariffs will take effect 21 days after signing. For components of drones that are not particularly sensitive, the tariffs will take effect 180 days after signing.
The White House emphasized that Trump's drone tariff program will “protect the national security of the United States and its defense and defense-adjacent industrial base, supporting and creating American jobs.”
The Trump administration on July 24 imposed new tariffs on imports from more than 80 countries, including Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and China.
The United States imposed a 10% tariff on goods from 22 countries and territories, targeting major trading partners including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The duties also apply to imports from Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The duties brought total tariff rates for these nations to either 10% or 12.5% when combined with existing most-favored-nation status rates, according to media reports.
The remaining 38 nations will face a 12.5% rate. This group includes Vietnam, which this week issued a decree tightening bans on forced-labor imports, as well as China. Washington accuses Beijing of holding Uyghur minorities in labor camps, a charge China denies.
According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the new tariffs apply to the 60 largest U.S. trading partners, which account for 99.4% of all U.S. imports.