The Comprehensive Timeline
After 4PM yesterday in the White House Rose Garden, US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles took effect at midnight ET today.
As for reciprocal tariffs, the US will implement a minimum 10% tariff on all imported goods, effective at midnight.
That base 10% rate will be higher for individual countries depending on their tariff rate on the US. In that case, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has put together tariff rates calculated to factor in each country’s monetary tariffs, non-monetary trade barriers, currency manipulation, etc. The USTR has assigned each trading partner a tariff percentage and will implement a tariff worth half of the designated percentage.
During Trump’s speech Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick handed the President a board with the USTR designated tariff percentage for each country, next to the final percentage the US would charge for each country.
As for Canada and Mexico, goods which adhere to the USMCA will still be traded freely.
April 1, 2025
“Too many foreign countries have their markets closed to [US] exports,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt when referring to trade deficits and non-monetary trade barriers.
The message that has been consistent: “If you make your product in America, you will pay no tariffs,” said Leavitt.
Auto tariffs have been scheduled for April 3, according to the April 1 press briefing.
In recent days, blanket 20% tariffs have covered headlines. There were also reports about a tiered tariff system with three different rates. However, country-specific rates were mentioned by President Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent.
Trump and staff were still hard at work on the April 2 Reciprocal Tariff schedule, according to Leavitt.
Trading partners and country leaders are still meeting and scheduling calls with President Trump to negotiate ahead of this afternoon’s announcement–making the situation as fluid as ever.
March 28, 2025: Secondary Tariffs
As April 2 approaches, the ongoing tariff saga continues to unfold, bringing new developments each day. Expana is tracking the latest headlines and breaking down the key updates as they happen, as evidenced in the latest newsletter.
This week, US President Trump announced a new “secondary tariff” directed at Venezuela and any country buying their oil, citing Venezuelan criminal activity in the US.
On March 26, Trump announced a separate 25% tariff on all imported cars and light trucks, effective April 3, reported Expana. The measure applies to American brands assembling cars abroad, and to parts like engines and electrical components.
In addition to oil, autos, and parts, new tariffs are under consideration for lumber and pharmaceuticals.
“We don’t make anything here in terms of drugs,” Trump said. “It’s all China. A lot of it is Ireland.”
Plus, US reciprocal tariffs on top trading partners will be applied on April 2. The tariffs may not be as sweeping as previously imagined, hinted Trump who stated other countries “charged us so much that I’m embarrassed to charge them what they’ve charged us—but it’ll be substantial.”
The tariff regime will also factor-in non-tariff barriers like “testing on our food or products that bear no resemblance to safety, or anything that we do to their product,” told US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
This administration is using tariffs with the goal to bring manufacturing to the US, to even trade deficits, mitigate fentanyl trafficking, curb currency manipulation, and to attack non-monetary trade barriers for US products.
US trading partners have come to offer decreases in tariffs before April 2, said Bessent. While others will wait to negotiate after that time.
On March 28, President Trump announced a “productive” call with new Prime Minister Mark Carney, of Canada.
Also, Indian government officials are open to cutting tariffs on more than half of US imports, reported Reuters. India has among the highest trade-weighted average tariffs at 12.1%, compared to 2.5% for the US, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
EC Commissioner Sefcovic also met with Trump this week ahead of the April 2 implementation date, with reported willingness to reduce auto tariffs like the EU’s 10% car tariff and the 25% US truck tariff.
“They will discuss… EU-US trade relations, and from our perspective, why we should be making every effort on both sides to avoid harmful tariffs and build rather than tear down… trade and economic relationship, which is the strongest in the world,” said EC spokesman Olof Gill.
March 20, 2025: EU Delays First Countermeasures on US to mid-April
After the US imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and promised reciprocal tariffs for global trade partners on April 2, the European Commission’s (EC) response planned a two-tiered tariff package on US commodities. The EU tariffs have since been delayed until mid-April, according to remarks by Commissioner Šefčovič at the joint hearing of the Committee on International Trade. On March 12, the EC announced plans to reinstate tariff measures that were threatened by an EU/US trade dispute back in 2018 and 2020.
“We are now considering to align the timing of the two sets of EU countermeasures, so we can consult with Member States on both lists simultaneously,” said Commissioner Šefčovič about delaying EC tariffs on the US until mid-April. “It also gives us extra time for negotiations to try to find a mutually agreeable resolution… This approach would allow us to deliver a firm, proportionate, robust and well-calibrated response to the US measures.”
March 19, 2025: Trump admin says countries to get new ‘tariff number’ on April 2
The Trump administration will provide countries with their own tariff rate based on several factors, including their own tariff rates on the US and other trade barriers.
“On April 2, each country will receive a number that we believe represents their tariffs,” Bessent told Fox Business Network. “For some countries, it could be quite low. For some countries, it could be quite high.”
Co-authored by:
Ryan Doyle
Expana
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Written by Ryan Gallagher
