On April 9, 2025, President Trump walked back his April 2, 2025 announcement of increased global tariffs (see our client alert here). Under the April 9 Executive Order, the country-specific tariffs — except those on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — are suspended until 12:01am EDT on July 9, 2025. The new order does not modify the 10% minimum tariff on all imported goods that came into effect on April 5.
Canada and Mexico remain exempt from both the country-specific and the minimum 10% tariff, but are subject to 25% tariffs if goods do not qualify as “originating” in Canada and Mexico under the USMCA; energy, energy resources, and potash from Canada remain subject to a lower product specific 10% tariff.
For all countries but China, the elimination of the de minimis exception for shipments valued at less than $800 remains in place and comes into effect on May 2, 2025.
In the same order, President Trump increased tariffs on all goods from the PRC, including Hong Kong and Macau, to 125%, in response to retaliation by the PRC to the first round of tariffs. Because the tariffs on China are additive, the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports is now effectively 145%. For goods that qualify as de minimis coming from China, the duties have increased to 120%, or if sent via the international postal service, $100 per item until June 1, when they will increase to $200.
The administration has announced that it is entering into country-by-country bilateral negotiations to potentially reduce tariffs before the pause ends. Changes to the tariff rates are expected, but timing is unclear. The impact may vary depending on the product, the country of origin, and the terms of the governing contract. If you are affected by the ongoing tariff uncertainty, we encourage you to contact our Tariff Strategy team to discuss your specific circumstances.
Our Tariff Strategy team suggests that all companies, whether currently impacted or not, should take advantage of the 90-day pause to review their standard contracts and terms and conditions to ensure that they have language specifically addressing tariffs and duties (in addition to any clauses regarding taxes) and have strong force majeure clauses. Companies should also review what INCOTERMS govern their imports.
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