The Comprehensive Timeline
April 9, 2025
On April 9, participants across commodity markets and beyond took a (cautious) sigh of relief as US President Trump and the White House administration confirmed the higher reciprocal tariffs would be paused for 90 days, while the 10% baseline rate would remain.
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown… I am hereby raising the [tariff] charged to China by the [USA] to 125%, effective immediately,” wrote Trump on Truth Social at 1:18 pm ET.
The main exception is for China: The US upped tariffs to 125% due to the country’s 84% tariff retaliation on US imports. In early March, Trump noted that he would add another 10% tariff on Chinese goods, on top of the initial 10% tariff he placed on the country in February. So, the figure now stands at 145%.
“The situation is nuanced,” said Heather Doyle during Expana’s “Navigating Tariff Turbulence in Agrifood Markets” webinar on April 10. Doyle pointed out the range of feed additive ingredients like vitamins which are only manufactured outside the US.
During the webinar, Angel Rubio pointed out markets like seafood (with US buyers importing ~85% of shrimp) and pork which have been impacted by tariff threats and implementation.
The grains industry is another, as Murphy Campbell’s webinar presence suggested, that cannot be ignored as many US soybean buyers are in China.
Additionally, China has shifted global imports from the US to places like Brazil—to insulate themselves from the first tariff spat with Trump in 2018.
In other news, tariff rates on Canada and Mexico remain unchanged, said Jamie Chadwick during Expana’s webinar, with a rate of 25% for those goods that do not fall under the US-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA). It is thought that a significant volume of agri-food products fall under the terms of USMCA.
Across the Atlantic, the European Union’s (EU) European Commission (EC) dropped countermeasures leaders had agreed upon in response to the still-standing US tariffs on steel and aluminum. Other tariffs still seemingly in play are those on automobiles, and secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela. Previously, EU tariffs would have taken effect April 15–now they’ve been tabled till December.
April 8, 2025
Leaders from 70 countries around the world had called to negotiate trade relations with the US, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in an afternoon press conference. In that same conversation, Leavitt confirmed an additional 50% tariff on China (total 104%) after the country imposed 34% tariffs on the US.
More from Asia: A meeting between Thailand and the US Trade Representative had been confirmed, according to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The Thai government confirmed their leaders would increase US imports, lower some taxes on American goods, and address non-tariff barriers to even-out trade between the two countries within 10 years.
South Korea’s acting president spoke with President Trump and is sending a team to negotiate trade with the US, the President wrote on Truth Social.
“We talked about [South Korea’s] tremendous and unsustainable [surplus], [tariffs], [shipbuilding], large scale purchase of [US] LNG, their joint venture in an Alaska Pipeline, and payment for the big time [military protection] we provide to South Korea,” read the post which also alluded to a deal with China.
Across the Atlantic, the tariff schedule from the European Commission will go to vote on April 9.
The USTR’s Jamieson Greer said that: “The president has been clear, again, that he’s not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term,” which Reuters cited.
However, Greer’s statement seems to be directed towards individual businesses or industries, because the USTR report which Trump brandished at the “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariff reveal does list exemptions country-by-country.
“On the other hand, there are products and sectors that are not currently affected,” according to a MarketScreener article. “Indeed, in Wednesday’s sensational announcements, we must not forget the 37-page list of exemptions, which effectively excludes a number of products and even sectors. And when these exemptions are taken into account, the effective tariff rate is reduced by several percentage points.”
Stay informed on tariff turbulence
As global trade policies continue to shift, staying informed is more important than ever. At Expana, we’re committed to helping businesses gain greater visibility into international markets and better manage volatility.
While most of our pricing data and market insights are exclusive to the Expana platform, we’ve put together a few free resources to support anyone looking to understand the agri-food market landscape:
Explore our free resources:
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📬 Weekly newsletter – Get the latest tariff updates by email every Tuesday. [Sign up here]
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🎥 Live webinar – What the agrifood market needs to know about tariffs, recorded on April 10th. [Watch now]
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📝 Blog articles – Read our latest articles and insights. [Browse here]
Written by Nick Wood
