Metal tariffs in 2026: what they mean for your hardware quotes

If your material quotes have felt different this year, it is not your imagination. As of this spring, steel, aluminum, and copper items made entirely or mostly of those metals carry a 50 percent Section 232 tariff, with derivative products at 25 percent. Aluminum mill shapes were already up roughly 33 percent year over year in January, and metal window costs rose about 19 percent against last April.

Where it hits frameless hardware

Most of what we sell is machined brass, stainless, aluminum extrusion, or zinc alloy. Tariffs on finished aluminum products mean U-channels, headers, base shoes, and cap rails are the most exposed items in a shower or railing package. Solid-brass hinges and clamps feel it too, but the extrusion-heavy line items move first. Tecnoglass, one of the region's largest architectural glass and aluminum producers, cut its 2026 outlook by $50 million on exactly this.

What we are doing

We buy in container volume and hold Miami stock, which buffers week-to-week swings — the price you see on the site is the price we ship at. When our replacement cost moves, we reprice openly instead of padding freight or inventing surcharges.

What to do on your side

• Shorten your quote validity. The Associated General Contractors is telling members to revisit escalation clauses; 30-day pricing is the new 90-day pricing.
• Lock hardware when the glass is ordered, not when it arrives. Hardware is a small share of job cost but the most tariff-exposed one.
• Quote volume tiers. If you install the same hinge on every job, buying at the 10+ or 25+ break beats riding spot prices.

We will keep this page honest as the numbers move. If a quote looks off, call us on WhatsApp and we will price the job list directly.