Tariffs Eased on Many Trading Partners, Increased for China

President Trump has suspended a tariff increase on imports from dozens of countries that have not retaliated against his “reciprocal” tariffs but has further increased tariffs on imports from China in response to Beijing’s retaliatory measures.

An April 9 executive order states that since the reciprocal tariffs were announced more than 75 foreign trading partners have approached the U.S. “to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationships and our resulting national and economic security concerns.” These actions have been deemed “significant steps” that thus warrant a 90-day suspension of the 11-50 percent tariffs on imports from these countries. This suspension took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10 (meaning the reciprocal tariffs were in effect for 24 hours) and will expire at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 9.

Imports from these countries will, however, be subject to an additional 10 percent tariff as of 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10. Imports from many other countries have been subject to this tariff rate since 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5.

(Trump also cited a lack of retaliation for the reciprocal tariffs as a reason for suspending them. Here it is worth noting that both the European Union and Canada announced retaliatory measures this week, but not in response to the reciprocal tariffs. The EU approved additional 25 percent tariffs on various imports from the U.S. in response to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, although the EU later suspended those tariffs for 90 days to allow time for bilateral negotiations. Canada imposed 25 percent tariffs on specific automobiles and auto parts from the U.S. beginning April 9 following what it said were “unjustified tariffs imposed by the United States on the Canadian auto industry.”)

With respect to China, the EO states that because China has retaliated for the reciprocal tariffs by further increasing its tariffs on imports from the U.S. (see here and here for more information), effective at 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10 the reciprocal tariff on imports from China (including Hong Kong and Macau) was increased from 84 percent to 125 percent.

Further, the EO again modified a previous EO that will terminate duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports from China as of May 2 by specifying that such shipments sent through the international postal network will be subject to a duty rate of either 120 percent (up from 90 percent) of their value or $100 per item (up from $75), increasing to $200 (up from $150) as of June 1.

Click here to stay up to date on the U.S.’ reciprocal tariffs.

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