#TrumpTariffs

During his second presidency, United States president Donald Trump enacted a series of steep protective tariffs affecting nearly all goods imported into the United States. Upon the second inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2025, the average effective US tariff rate was 2.5%. It rose to an estimated 27%, the highest level in over a century, due to the Liberation Day tariffs.After rollbacks, as of June 1, 2025, the average effective tariff rate was 15.1%.

Trump escalated the China–United States trade war, raising baseline tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. In retaliation, China imposed a minimum 125% tariff on US goods and export restrictions on rare earths critical to high tech industries. Trump also initiated a trade war with Canada and Mexico by imposing a 25% tariff on both countries, but later granted indefinite exemptions for goods compliant with the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). He framed these actions as efforts to hold the countries accountable for contraband drug trafficking and illegal immigration, while also supporting domestic manufacturing. Trump subsequently added a 25% tariff on automobiles and a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum products from all countries.

On April 2—a day he called "Liberation Day"—Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on all US imports, effective April 5, and higher tariffs on imports from 57 countries. The announcement of these controversially named "reciprocal tariffs" prompted retaliation from trade partners and triggered a stock market crash. According to the Trump administration's reciprocal tariff formula, trade deficits are seen as inherently harmful, a view many economists criticized as a flawed understanding of trade.Trump also announced he would close the de minimis exemption for China beginning May 2, and for all countries at a future date.