Fact Check: Did Trump admin declare brass instruments a national security threat?

WASHINGTON, DC: A viral claim reported that the Trump administration had declared brass musical instruments a national security threat to justify tariffs on imports.

The rumor came as the administration expanded its use of national security rules to impose tariffs, including new duties on imported drones.

The Commerce Department has also proposed a 25% tariff on imported brass instruments, including trumpets, trombones, and tubas, adding to the confusion.

Claim: Trump administration calls brass instruments a security threat

One Facebook post about the claim read, “Trump vs trumpets! This week, the Trump administration declared tubas, trombones, trumpets, and French horns a national security threat.”

It added, “Brass instruments could soon face a 25% tariff on imports, parts, and accessories, as part of a wider push to expand tariffs on aluminium, steel, and copper.”

The post also claimed that the six-page Commerce Department proposal used the words “national security” nine times.

Variations of the claim spread on Reddit and X and were amplified by reports from outlets including Classic FM and HuffPost.

Fact Check: The claim is misleading

After questions about the claim’s authenticity, reports confirmed that the Department of Commerce had published a request for public comment in the Federal Register on a proposed rule that could impose tariffs on brass instruments and other products.

The proposal also cited national security concerns.

However, the department was not directly treating musical instruments as a security threat. Instead, the focus was on the material used to make them, mainly brass, which is a copper alloy.

The proposal referred to Presidential Proclamation 10962, issued by Trump on July 30, 2025.

In the proclamation, Trump said copper “in all forms,” including its alloys, was being imported in quantities and under conditions that could threaten US national security.

Therefore, the claim is misleading.

A White House spokesperson shared a statement, "Reshoring steel, aluminum, and copper production back to the United States is a national security prerogative, given that America cannot be reliant on foreign countries for metals that are critical for military hardware, key infrastructure, technology, etc."

The spokesperson also explained that taxing only raw metals could allow foreign manufacturers to avoid the tariffs by using those materials to make finished products, such as musical instruments, and then exporting them to the US.

"If we only tariff the raw slabs of these metals being dumped onto the US market, US producers would still get undermined by foreign metal production flowing instead into the foreign production of derivative products like instruments that then get dumped onto our market instead."