President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs went into effect on April 5 at the rate of 10%, and increased for many countries to country-specific rates on April 9th at 12:01am. See Reciprocal Tariffs; Day Zero for details.
What Reciprocal Tariff Rate Applies to China?
On April 8th, President Trump increased the reciprocal rate on China from 34% to 84% [source]. On April 9, Trump announced a further increase to 125% on Truth Social. On April 10, the Executive Order — Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment formalized the 125% reciprocal tariff rate on China, effective midnight April 10, 2025.
What Reciprocal Tariff Rate Applies to Other Countries?
For all other countries subject to a country-specific rate above the 10% baseline reciprocal tariff, Trump paused implementation for 90 days through July 9, 2025. This left a 10% tariff in effect for most countries during that period, in addition to any existing tariffs or duties that otherwise apply, including tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, automobile parts, AD/CVD, and so on.
Update: What Happened After the 90-Day Pause
The 90-day pause expired July 9 and was briefly extended to July 31 while negotiations continued. On July 31, 2025, President Trump signed the executive order Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates, which ended the pause and set new country-specific rates effective August 7. The new rates, listed in Annex I to that order, range from 10% to 41% depending on the country and the outcome of bilateral negotiations during the suspension period. Countries that reached framework trade agreements with the U.S. — including the EU, Japan, South Korea, and the UK — received rates at or near 15%. Countries that did not engage or that retaliated faced higher rates. The baseline 10% tariff continues to apply to countries not specifically listed.
China remains on a separate track entirely and is not addressed in that order. See our post on the U.S.-China tariff de-escalation for the full China-specific timeline, including the Geneva truce, the two 90-day extensions, and the October 30 Trump-Xi summit agreement that extended the reduced tariff framework through November 10, 2026.
The IEEPA Legal Challenge
All of the reciprocal tariffs described above were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. The ruling means the IEEPA-based reciprocal tariffs are unlawful. However, the tariffs remained in effect while the litigation proceeded and the case has been remanded to the Court of International Trade to address potential refunds of duties collected. Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, and copper are unaffected by this ruling.
Tariff Questions?
Do you have questions about the reciprocal tariffs and how they apply to your imports? Great Lakes Customs Law has been advising importers for more than 15 years. Call us at (734) 855-4999, send a text message, or reach us on WhatsApp.