Why Country-Specific Tariff Rates Changed in April 2025
An April 9 executive order temporarily suspended most newly announced country-specific tariff rates for 90 days, kept a 10% additional rate for those partners and raised the specified additional rate on China to 125%.
Timeline
- April 2, 2025: Executive Order 14257 announced a 10% additional tariff followed by higher country-specific rates for listed partners.
- April 9, 2025: Executive Order 14266 suspended most country-specific rates for 90 days and raised the specified China rate.
- April 10, 2025: The revised 10% treatment for most listed partners and 125% China rate took effect under the April 9 order.
The United States changed its newly announced country-specific tariff schedule on April 9, 2025, only a week after the original reciprocal-tariff order. The revision temporarily suspended the higher individual rates for most trading partners listed in the April 2 annex. For the 90-day suspension, covered imports from those partners generally remained subject to an additional 10% rate under the order's terms and exceptions. [1][2]
The April 2 order had created two steps. A broadly applicable additional 10% duty was scheduled for April 5, and higher country-specific rates for partners in Annex I were scheduled for April 9. The order also contained exceptions for several classes of goods, including products already covered by certain Section 232 tariffs and specified pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, energy products and critical minerals. [1]
The original order explicitly allowed later changes. It said rates could be increased or broadened if a trading partner retaliated and could be reduced or narrowed if a partner took significant steps to remedy what the administration called nonreciprocal arrangements and aligned with the United States on economic and national-security matters. That modification authority set up the April 9 decision. [1][2]
The April 9 order said more than 75 trading partners had approached the United States to address the administration's concerns. It treated those contacts as sufficient alignment to pause the higher country-specific duties for most listed partners from April 10 through July 9, 2025. The 10% additional rate continued during that period, subject to the underlying order's exclusions and other rules. [2]
China was treated differently. The April 9 order cited China's announced 84% tariff on U.S.-origin goods as retaliation and amended the specified U.S. additional rate on covered imports from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, from 84% to 125%, effective April 10. That figure described the additional rate under this particular action; other duties could also apply depending on the product. [2]
A tariff rate therefore cannot be understood from a single announcement or headline. The country of origin, product classification, exclusions, whether goods were already in transit, the entry date and other tariff programs can all affect the duty collected. Later presidential actions and trade arrangements also changed portions of the 2025 framework, so the April documents explain the policy at that time rather than today's rate for every product. [1][2]
The reason the rates changed was the administration's distinction between retaliation and negotiation. It raised the China rate after retaliation and paused most other higher rates after partners opened discussions. Whatever view readers take of the policy, the official record shows a deliberately adjustable schedule. Importers needed the current Harmonized Tariff Schedule instructions and customs guidance, not only the April 2 annex, to determine a shipment's treatment. [1][2]
Sources
- White House — Executive Order 14257 on reciprocal tariffs
- White House — Executive Order 14266 modifying reciprocal tariff rates