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Fast-forward to today and economists stress there could be greater consequences on businesses and economies worldwide under Trump’s more sweeping tariffs this time around — and that higher prices will likely leave consumers footing the bill. There’s also been a sense of whiplash from Trump’s back-and-forth tariff threats and responding retaliation, including some recently-postponed taxes on goods from America’s largest trading partners.
Here’s a timeline of how we got here:
January 20
Trump is sworn into office. In his inaugural address, he again promises to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” And he reiterates plans to create an agency called the External Revenue Service, which has yet to be established.
On his first day in office, Trump also says he expects to put 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1, while declining to immediately flesh out plans for taxing Chinese imports.
January 26
Trump threatens 25 percent tariffs on all Colombia imports and other retaliatory measures after President Gustavo Petro’s rejects two US military aircraft carrying migrants to the country, accusing Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation.
In response, Petro also announces a retaliatory 25 percent increase in Colombian tariffs on US goods. But Colombia later reversed its decision and accepted the flights carrying migrants. The two countries soon signaled a halt in the trade dispute.
February 1
Trump signs an executive order to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China — 10 percent on all imports from China and 25 percent on imports from Mexico and Canada starting Feb. 4. Trump invoked this power by declaring a national emergency — ostensibly over undocumented immigration and drug trafficking. The levies on Canada and Mexico threaten to blow up Trump’s own USMCA trade deal, which allowed many products to cross North American borders duty free.
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The action prompts swift outrage from all three countries, with promises of retaliatory measures.
February 3
Trump agrees to a 30-day pause on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, with both trading partners taking steps to appease Trump’s concerns about border security and drug trafficking.
February 4
Trump’s new 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports to the US still go into effect. China retaliates the same day by announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including sweeping new duties on a variety of American goods and an anti-monopoly investigation into Google.
China’s 15 percent tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10 percent levy on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the US, take effect Feb. 10.
February 10
Trump announces plans to hike steel and aluminum tariffs. He removes the exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25 percent, and also raises his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent set to go into effect March 12.
February 13
Trump announces a plan for “reciprocal” tariffs — promising to increase US tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports “for purposes of fairness.” Economists warn that the reciprocal tariffs, set to overturn decades of trade policy, could create chaos for global businesses.
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Beyond China, Canada and Mexico, he indicates that additional countries, such as India, won’t be spared from higher tariffs. And in the following weeks, Trump suggests that European countries could face a 25 percent levy as part of these efforts.
February 25
Trump signed an executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether a tariff on imported copper is needed to protect national security. He cites the material’s use in U.S. defense, infrastructure and emerging technologies.
Trump signs an additional executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether tariffs on lumber and timber are also needed to protect national security, arguing that the construction industry and military depend on a strong supply of wooden products in the U.S.
Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico go into effect, though he limits the levy to 10 percent on Canadian energy. He also doubles the tariff on all Chinese imports to 20 percent.
All three countries promise retaliatory measures. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country would respond with its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods without specifying the targeted products immediately, signaling hopes to de-escalate.
China, meanwhile, imposes tariffs of up to 15 percent on a wide array of key US farm exports. It also expands the number of US companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
Trump grants a one-month exemption on his new tariffs impacting goods from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. The pause arrives after the president spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
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In a wider extension, Trump postpones 25 percent tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month. But he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.
Trump credited Sheinbaum with making progress on border security and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs. His actions also thaw relations with Canada somewhat, although outrage and uncertainty over the trade war remains. Still, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on U.S. goods, the government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs worth $125 billion Canadian (US$87 billion).
China retaliates against Trump’s tariffs by imposing additional 15 percent taxes on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans, and beef. The escalating trade tensions push stocks lower on Monday as investors worry about the pain Trump’s trade wars risk inflicting on the American economy.
The Chinese tariffs were a response to Trump’s decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20 percent on March 4. China’s Commerce Ministry had earlier said that goods already in transit would be exempt from the retaliatory tariffs until April 12.
Trump increases tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 percent, removing exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10 percent.
The European Union takes retaliatory trade action promising new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products. The measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during Trump’s first term. The 27-member bloc later says it will delay this retaliatory action until mid-April.
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Trump threatens a 200 percent tariff on European wine, Champagne, and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50 percent tariff on American whiskey.
The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the US administration, is expected to go into effect April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.
Trump says he will place a 25 percent tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, in addition to imposing new tariffs on the South American country itself, starting April 2.
The tariffs would most likely add to the taxes facing China, which in 2023 bought 68 percent of the oil exported by Venezuela, per the US Energy Information Administration. But a number of countries also receive oil from Venezuela — including the United States itself.
Trump says he is placing 25 percent tariffs on auto imports, a move that the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing. But it could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains.