(WXYZ) — Starting in the 2024 presidential campaign and continuing through the first months of his presidency, President Donald Trump's tariff actions have been the talk of the world.
Below is a current timeline of the tariff actions taken by the Trump Administration.
November 25, 2024 - Trump threatens sweeping new tariffs
Then-President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada as soon as he takes office. "On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders," he wrote.
January 20, 2025 - Trump promises tariffs during his inaugural address
During President Trump's inauguration speech, he promised to tariff and tax foreign countries. "Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," he said. "For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources."
January 26, 2026 - Trump threatens tariffs on Colombia
President Trump said he would order tariffs on Colombia after its government rejected two flights carrying migrants. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said, "A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro said. “That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants."
February 1, 2025 - Trump proposes tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China
President Trump signed an order to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. The emergency order put in place 10% tariff on China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada – except for a 10% rate on Canadian energy, including oil, natural gas and electricity. The tariffs were set to go into effect on Feb. 4.
February 2, 2025 - Trump says Americans could feel "some pain" from tariffs
President Donald Trump said that Americans could feel “some pain” from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China, and claimed that Canada would “cease to exist” without its trade surplus with the United States.
February 3, 2025 - Proposed tariffs on Canada & Mexico paused
Two days after announcing the proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, both were paused one day before taking effect as the countries agreed to tougher border security measures
February 4, 2025 - Tariffs on China go into effect
A 10% tariff on Chinese imports went into effect on Feb. 4, three days after Trump signed the emergency order. China responded by saying they would impose a 15% tariff on imported coal and liquefied natural gas originating from the United States and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, automobiles with large displacement, and pickup trucks.
February 10, 2025 - Trump says he will announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs
Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports coming into the United States, including from Canada and Mexico
February 13, 2025 - Trump announces plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trade partners
President Trump announced a plan that would impose broad reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners. Reciprocal tariffs are import taxes imposed by the U.S. government on foreign goods. President Trump said they would be set at the same level as the tariffs that other countries apply to American exports.
February 20, 2025 - Trump signals 25% tariffs on key imports beginning in April
President Donald Trump told reporters that he expects to implement additional tariffs in April on auto, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports. "I probably will tell you that on April 2nd, but it'll be in the neighborhood of 25%," President Trump said about auto imports.
February 27, 2025 - Trump says tariffs on Canada and Mexico are back on
President Donald Trump that he plans to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico after delaying plans to implement them. He said that the tariffs would go into effect on March 4.
March 4, 2025 - 25% tariffs go into effect on Canada and Mexico
March 5, 2025 - Trump grants exemption for U.S. automakers on new tariffs
President Donald Trump granted a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers, amid fears that the trade war could harm U.S. manufacturers. The announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
March 6, 2025 - Trump delays some tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods
President Trump signed orders that delayed collecting tariffs on some imports from Canada and Mexico, but still promised to impose "reciprocal" tariffs starting April 2. Trump's orders applied to most goods from Mexico and Canada that were eligible for the 2020 USMCA trade agreement.
March 10, 2025 - China imposes 15% tariffs on American farm products
China's 15% retaliatory tariffs on many American farm products took effect on March 12. The Chinese tariffs included a 15% levy on U.S. products like chicken, wheat, and corn and a 10% levy on soybeans, pork, beef, and fruit.
March 11, 2025 - White House backs off doubled metals tariffs as stock market extends slump
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said President Trump agreed to back off a threatened doubling of tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, which would keep the planned tariffs at 25% when they go into effect on March 12. It came as the stock market dropped more than 600 points following its worst day in more than two years.
March 12, 2025 - 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum go into effect, EU and Canada announce retaliatory tariffs
The EU and Canada both planned retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. after 25% tariffs went into effect for steel and aluminum imports. Canada announced $20.7 billion in retaliatory tariffs while the EU announced new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products.
March 13, 2025 - Trump threatens 200% tariff on European alcohol in response to EU whiskey tax
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said he would enact a 200% tariff on all alcoholic products coming from the European Union, claiming the tariffs would be "great for the wine and champagne business in the U.S."
After the U.S. imposed a tariff on global aluminum and steel imports, the European Union retaliated by enacting a 50% tariff on whiskey from the U.S. The tariff is set to take effect on March 31.
March 24, 2025 - Trump targets countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela with 25% tariff
President Donald Trump announced that the United States will impose a 25% "Secondary Tariff" on countries that purchase oil or gas from Venezuela. President Trump said the measure, set to take effect on April 2, will target nations that engage in trade with Venezuela, which he accused of sending thousands of violent criminals and gang members to the U.S.
March 26, 2025 - Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos
President Donald Trump said he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports, a move that the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains. The tariffs were set to go into effect April 3.
March 30, 2025 - 'Couldn't care less': Trump not concerned if car prices rise due to tariffs
President Donald Trump said he "couldn't care less" if foreign automakers increase their prices in response to his proposed tariffs on all vehicles and their parts not made in the United States.
"If you make your car in the United States, you're going to make a lot of money," President Trump told NBC. "If you don't, you're going to have to probably come to the United States because if you make your car in the United States there is no tariff."
April 2, 2025 - Trump announces baseline 10% tariff on imports for all US trade partners
On what the White House has dubbed as "Liberation Day," President Donald Trump announced a spate of new tariffs on all U.S. trade partners, as well as additional tariffs on dozens of countries that his administration has described as the "worst offenders." Those countries and tariffs included 34% for China, 24% for Japan, 25% for South Korea and 32% for Taiwan.
April 3, 2025 - 25% tariff on auto imports begins, Canada imposes tariff on U.S. auto exports
A 25% tariff on all auto imports began on April 3, the same day that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada is imposing 25% tariffs on non-CUSMA compliant autos being sent from the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial also dropped 1,600 points as part of a worldwide sell-off after Trump's tariff announcement.
April 4, 2025 - China announces a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products starting April 10, stocks tumble
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 2,200 points to close at 38,314 — marking the first time the index has fallen below 40,000 since August 2024. The Dow's 5% decline was mirrored by the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, which fell 322 points and 962 points, respectively.
April 5, 2025 - New tariffs take effect: U.S. starts collecting 10% duty on imported goods
April 5 marked the start of the U.S. collecting a 10% tariff on virtually all goods being shipped to the country. On April 9, the U.S. will begin collecting additional tariffs from dozens of countries that President Trump has labeled as "reciprocal."
April 7, 2025 - Trump threatens new 50% tariffs if China maintains retaliatory tariffs
President Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9, if China did not remove its 34% tariffs on U.S. imports.
April 8, 2025 - China vows to 'fight to the end' in escalating tariff standoff with Trump
In a statement directed at the president regarding the newly implemented policy, the China Commerce Ministry said China will “fight to the end” to protect its own interests, stating that the tariffs are “groundless and a typical unilateral bullying practice.”
April 9, 2025 - U.S. raises tariffs on China to 125% while postponing "reciprocal" tariffs for other nations
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon that he is postponing "reciprocal" tariffs for dozens of other nations while increasing tariffs on China to 125%. The announcement sent immediate shock waves on Wall Street, sending stocks soaring within mere minutes of his statement.
The U.S. began collecting "reciprocal" tariffs on imports from 86 different countries on Wednesday. The most notable of the tariffs was a 104% duty being imposed on goods being imported from China, which was raised after the country retaliated.
White House officials said that the 10% tariffs on global trade partners would remain in place. The U.S. is also keeping a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, as well as tariffs on foreign automobiles.
