NAMM President and CEO John Mlynczak at USTR Testimony NAMM President/CEO Issues Statement on Section 232 Duties Addition of Brass-wind Instruments CARLSBAD, CA – John Mlynczak, President and CEO of NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) has issued the following statement on the Section 232 Duties Addition of Brass-wind Instruments. The Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) notice proposing the inclusion brass-wind musical instruments and their parts and accessories within the scope of Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum and copper derivative articles will further harm the American businesses, musicians and children.
More than 25 million students participate in school music each year, supported by a network of thousands of American retailers who have imported and supplied these instruments for decades. These students feed the pipeline of American musicians who contribute to the creative economy that produces $1.17 trillion of economic activity, accounts for 4.2 percent of U.S. GDP, and provides 5.4 million arts and cultural jobs nationwide according to a 2025 report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
A study published by the Peterson Institute of International Economics found that IEEPA tariffs resulted in a 27% decline in wind instrument imports in 2025. The addition of brass-wind instruments in Section 232 will further erode the pipeline and increase the costs of musical instruments that serve the American musicians who create one of America’s greatest cultural exports: our music. There is absolutely no national security risk with musical instruments, and in fact, the opposite is true. Music making has been one of the most culturally uniting activities for thousands of years.
NAMM strongly opposes the addition of brass-wind musical instruments and parts and accessories (HTSUS 9205.10.0040 and HTSUS 9205.10.0080) in the proposed Section 232 and will be filing comments against them to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS), U.S. Department of Commerce. NAMM has been consistent in this message, including the except below from our oral testimony in the Section 301 committee hearing on excess capacity in May. We will continue to champion access to American music making for our current and future generations.
For more information, visit namm.org.