On April 9, just hours after higher country-specific reciprocal tariffs took effect on imports from a wide-range of countries, President Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries that have not retaliated against the United States in response to the reciprocal tariff action. As a result, the reciprocal tariff rate for imports from all countries – with the exception of China, which has retaliated, and those countries exempt from the initial reciprocal action – will remain at 10 percent rather than the higher tariffs announced last week and set forth in Annex I of the President’s April 2 Executive Order. The product specific exemptions outlined in the April 2 Executive Order continue to apply, including exemptions for goods already covered by the Section 232 tariffs on steel, and aluminum, and autos/auto parts. This change also does not affect the 25 percent IEEPA tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The reciprocal tariff suspension was subsequently confirmed in guidance issued late yesterday evening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and in an Executive Order published this morning suspending implementation of the higher tariffs set forth in Annex I until July 9, 2025.

The European Union, in response to the 90-day pause, has similarly paused tariffs on U.S. goods that were set to go into effect on April 15. The Trump Administration is continuing talks with dozens of countries who have come forward to negotiate reciprocal trade deals. Whether any countries will end up with reciprocal rates below the baseline 10 percent rate remains to be seen.

In contrast to the reduction in tariff rates for most countries, U.S.-China trade tensions continue to rise. Concurrent with the 90-day pause for most trading partners, President Trump announced he would be raising to 125 percent the reciprocal tariff on goods imported from China (including products of Hong Kong and Macau). The reciprocal tariffs on China are applied on top of the 20 percent February/March China tariffs (pursuant to IEEPA to address the fentanyl emergency) and any applicable Section 301 tariffs (primarily 25 percent, but ranging from 7.5-100 percent depending on the product). Additionally, President Trump increased the tariffs applicable to de minimis packages starting on May 2 from 30 percent or $25 to 120 percent or $100, increasing to $200 on June 1. The product specific exemptions outlined in the April 2 Executive Order continue to apply. The President attributed the rate increase to China’s retaliation, which we discuss here. As set forth in today’s EO, the higher rate took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET this morning (April 10).