Tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico

On the 1st of February, President Trump signed three executive orders to impose additional duty rates of 25% on products of Canada and Mexico, and also 10% on products of China.

A lack of cooperation on issues relating to immigration and drug trafficking are cited as justification. The executive orders were scheduled to become effective on the 4th of February 2025.

• Canada responds with an order imposing additional duty rates of 25% on products of the United States, effective from the 4th of February.
• Mexico responds by calling for “collaboration” and threatening to implement “Plan B”.
• China responds by filing a lawsuit with the WTO and imposing additional duty rates of 10-15% on US goods from the 10th of February.

Tariffs suspended

Following phone conversations with Canada and Mexico on the 3rd of February, tariffs on these countries are suspended. Canada and Mexico agreed to ramp up efforts to police their borders with the US. Tariffs on China come into effect on the 4th of February. 

Steel and aluminium

On the 10th of February, a proclamation is signed to modify US import policies regarding steel articles and derivative steel articles. From the 12th of March, all previous exemptions are revoked, and the additional duty rate is set at 25%.

On the 11th of February 2025, a similar proclamation is signed to modify US import policies regarding aluminium articles and derivative aluminium articles, effective from the 12th of March. The previous additional duty rate is increased from 10% to 25%.

In response, the EU threatened “firm and proportionate countermeasures”.

Reciprocal Tariffs

On the 13th of February, a memorandum on reciprocal tariffs is signed. Trump branded the tariffs as “very fair” and called for a “level playing field”.

The US president confirmed that reciprocal tariffs would be in additional to any industry specific tariffs such as cars, chips and pharmaceuticals, “over and above”.

Tariffs will be placed in response to other charges such as EU import VAT which Trump described as a “hidden tariff”.

Tariffs will also be placed on non-monetary trade barriers, “if they don’t let us in, we’re gonna determine a value for that”.

Trump advised industries, including pharma, to build plants in the US to avoid paying the tariffs.

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick suggested that plans should be ready by April 1st.