On Wednesday April 2nd, President Trump announced a broad expansion of tariffs to apply to 185 countries and territories. Prior to this, new tariffs were announced to apply to China, Canada and Mexico, as well as sector-specific tariffs on aluminum, steel and automobiles. In this explainer, we’ll cover what has changed in U.S. trade policy and tariffs during 2025, how and when those changes are being applied, what’s covered, and what it means for businesses.
Timeline
May 30: President Trump announces that aluminum and steel tariffs are set to increase from 25% to 50% as of Wednesday June 4.
May 29: A federal appeals court grants an administrative stay on the injunctions while the case is appealed—meaning tariffs can continue to be collected until the appeals court makes a ruling. The plaintiffs in the original case have until June 5 to file a response.
May 28: The Court of International Trade issues an injunction halting the executive orders by which President Trump enacted many of the new tariffs, particularly those on Canada, Mexico, China, the 10% global tariff, and the reciprocal tariffs.
May 12: U.S. and China announce deal to cut tariffs for the next 90 days. The U.S. cut back extra tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, and Chinese tariffs on U.S. imports reduced to 10% from 125%, until a deal is reached or August 10.
April 9: Hours after reciprocal tariffs began, President Trump authorized a 10% tariff rate across the board, with the exception of China—essentially pausing the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days as negotiations with many countries continued. However, China is now the target of 125% tariffs.
April 5: 10% baseline tariffs enacted.
April 3: Automotive tariffs come into effect.
April 2: President Trump announces ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on 185 nations and territories due to come into effect on April 9, alongside a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports coming into effect on April 5, with many countries being subject to much higher percentages. The tariffs are described as reciprocal, though they are not correlated to tariffs that each country levies on US imports. Instead, a White House official quoted by the BBC explains that they are based on a calculation of the trade deficit the US has with each nation/territory, divided by imports.
In a separate executive order, President Trump abolished the ‘de minimis’ exemption for goods from China and Hong Kong. This exemption, widely used by businesses like Temu, Shein and others, previously meant that imports under the value of $800 would not incur duties.
March 26: President Trump announces 25% tariffs on automotive imports, due to start collection on April 3 for fully imported cars and expanding over the following weeks to include more imported car parts, up until May 3.
March 12: Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect.
March 6: Tariffs are delayed for goods compliant with the United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement (USMCA), initially for a month and now indefinitely.
March 4: Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports come into effect. Tariffs on Chinese imports are increased from 10% to 20%.
February 10: President Trump modifies steel and aluminum tariffs to remove exceptions, raise the rate from 10% to 25%, and add more steel and aluminum products to be covered by the tariffs.
February 4: The 10% tariff on Chinese imports comes into effect.
February 3: One-month delays are negotiated for these tariffs in the cases of Mexico and Canada.
February 1: President Trump signs executive orders enacting tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico entering the United States, to be enforced from February 4. This order directs 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, and 25% on all non-energy/oil imports from Canada. Canadian oil and energy imports are subject to 10% tariffs.
