Metal Roof Tariffs Hit 60%: Does Metal Still Beat Asphalt in Ohio?

Metal roofing costs in Ohio are up roughly 60% since Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum doubled and expanded, according to industry pricing data compiled by RoofVista's 2026 tariff price guide. Asphalt shingles, by comparison, are up 6-18% over the same stretch. If you were leaning toward metal roofing for its 40-plus-year lifespan, the math you ran two years ago no longer applies. This piece walks through what changed, what it costs now, and how to decide without guessing.

What Actually Changed in the Tariff Rules

In June 2025, tariffs on imported steel and aluminum doubled from 25% to 50%. That rate carried into 2026 with no rollback. The bigger shift came later: the Commerce Department expanded Section 232 coverage to more than 400 derivative product categories. That matters because the expansion hits finished and pre-formed roofing panels and coated steel coil directly, not just raw billet and ingot crossing the border, per FoxHaven Roofing's 2026 pricing breakdown. A standing seam panel manufactured overseas from imported coil now carries the tariff even if the raw metal itself was already taxed once upstream.

Metal Roofing Prices Right Now

Steel roofing runs $10-$14 per square foot installed in 2026. Aluminum runs $11-$17 per square foot. Premium copper starts around $20 and can clear $40-plus, according to CostFlowAI's 2026 material pricing guide. A standing seam steel job quoted at $10-$12 per square foot two years ago now typically starts closer to $12-$15 in most markets. On a 2,000-square-foot roof, that shift alone adds $4,000-$6,000 to the bid before you factor in anything else. This is a different article from our broader look at 2026 roofing material costs across asphalt, metal, and slate. That piece covers the wide view. This one is about the metal-versus-asphalt decision specifically.

Why Metal Got Hit Harder Than Everything Else

Every roofing material moved this year, but not evenly. Metal roofing carries roughly a 60% increase attributable to the 50% steel and aluminum tariffs. TPO and single-ply membranes are up 12-18%. Tile is up 8-15%. Asphalt shingles are up 6-10% from tariff exposure, plus another 4-8% from manufacturer price hikes that four major producers rolled out in April 2026. That's unrelated to metal tariffs, just separate inflation stacking on top. Metal's exposure is structural. It's made almost entirely from the two metals under the heaviest tariff, while asphalt shingles are petroleum-based and use far less taxed material by weight.

The Payback Math Just Got Longer

Metal's pitch to Ohio homeowners was never that it's cheap. It's that you pay more once and skip two or three re-roofs over a 40-50 year lifespan, plus you generally see better hail and wind resistance, which can matter for insurance in a state that sees regular severe weather. That argument still holds directionally. What changed is the breakeven point. When metal cost roughly 2x asphalt, the lifespan math favored metal within a reasonable ownership window. At close to 2.5-3x asphalt's price after this year's increases, the payback period stretches out, and it stretches further if you don't plan to stay in the house for 20-plus years. Read our fuller comparison at metal roof vs. asphalt shingles in Ohio for the lifespan and resale detail this article doesn't repeat.

Where Asphalt Still Loses Ground

None of this makes asphalt free of problems. Asphalt shingle roofing still needs full replacement roughly every 20-25 years in Ohio's freeze-thaw climate, and April's manufacturer price hikes mean this year's asphalt quote is higher than last year's too, just not as dramatically. Metal got expensive, but that doesn't make asphalt the obvious choice by default. The gap between the two options simply widened enough that you should run the actual numbers for your specific roof, rather than defaulting to whichever material was cheaper two years ago. See our broader breakdown at roofing material comparison for Ohio homes.

Metal vs. Asphalt Cost Estimator

What to Ask a Contractor Before You Commit

Get both materials quoted on the same roof, in writing, from the same contractor visit. Ask for the coil or panel origin. Domestic steel coil is less exposed to Section 232 pass-through pricing than imported pre-formed panels, and some contractors are shifting suppliers specifically to manage this. Ask whether the quote is locked or subject to a tariff-adjustment clause, since some suppliers are now writing 30-60 day price holds into contracts given how fast mill pricing has moved this year. And ask about material grade and gauge thickness specifically. A thinner-gauge steel panel priced to look competitive against last year's numbers is a different product than what you were quoted in 2024. Understanding labor costs separately from material costs also matters more now, since material is a larger share of the total bid than it used to be. For more on how the tariff situation is playing out for Ohio homeowners specifically, see tariff impact on roof replacement in Ohio.

Next Move

Don't decide off last year's price memory. Section 232 coverage and rate levels are set at the federal level and can shift with limited notice. The next scheduled review window is worth tracking if you're not in a rush to replace. If your roof can hold another season, ask your contractor to re-quote both materials 30 days before you sign anything, since coil and aluminum mill pricing has moved multiple times already this year. If your roof can't wait, get side-by-side written quotes for standing seam metal and asphalt on the same visit, and make the call based on how long you actually plan to own the house, not on which material used to be the "smart" choice.