Trump's tariffs have launched global trade wars. Here's a timeline of how we got here
NEW YORK (AP) — Volley after volley of newtariffsfromU.S. President Donald Trumphave plunged the country into trade wars abroad and continue to escalate uncertainty for businesses and households. Trump is no stranger to tariffs. Helaunched a trade warduring his first term as well, takingparticular aim at Chinaby putting taxes on most of its goods. At the time, Beijing responded with its own retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. products. And Trump also used the threat of more tariffs to force Canada and Mexico torenegotiate a North American trade pact. When President Joe Bidentook office, hepreservedmost of the tariffs Trump had enacted against China, in addition to imposing somenew restrictions. But his administration claimed to take amore targeted approach. Fast-forward to today, and economists stress thereare greater consequenceson businesses and economies worldwide under Trump's more sweeping tariffs this time around — and thathigher pricesleaveconsumers footing the bill. There's also been a sense of whiplash from Trump's back-and-forth tariff threats and responding retaliation seen over the last few months. Here's a timeline of how we got here: January 20 Trump is sworn into office. In hisinaugural address, he again promises to "tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens." And he reiterates plans tocreate an agency called the External Revenue Service, which has yet to be established. On his first day in office, Trump also says heexpects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexicostarting on Feb. 1, while declining to immediately flesh out plans for taxing Chinese imports. January 26 Trumpthreatens 25% tariffson all Colombia imports andother retaliatory measuresafter President Gustavo Petro's rejects two U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants to the country, accusing Trump of not treatingimmigrantswith dignity during deportation. In response, Petro also announces a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods. But Colombia later reversed its decision andaccepted the flightscarrying migrants. The two countries soon signaled a halt inthe trade dispute. February 1 Trumpsigns an executive orderto impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China — 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canadastarting Feb. 4. Trumpinvoked this powerby declaring a national emergency — ostensibly overundocumented immigration and drug trafficking. The action prompts swift outrage from all three countries, with promises of retaliatory measures. February 3 Trumpagrees to a 30-day pauseon his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, as both trading partners take steps to appease Trump's concerns about border security and drug trafficking. February 4 Trump's new 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S.still go into effect. Chinaretaliates the same dayby announcing a flurry of countermeasures, including new duties on a variety of American goods and ananti-monopoly investigation into Google. China's 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10% levy on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S.,take effect Feb. 10. February 10 Trump announces plansto hike steel and aluminum tariffsstarting March 12. He removes the exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25%,and also raiseshis 2018 aluminum tariffs from 10% to 25%. February 13 Trump announces aplan for "reciprocal" tariffs— promising to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that countries worldwide charge on imports "for purposes of fairness." Economists warn that the reciprocal tariffs, set to overturn decades of trade policy, couldcreate chaos for global businesses. February 25 Trump signs an executive order instructing the Commerce Department to consider whether a tariff on imported copper is neededto protect national security. He cites the material's use in U.S. defense, infrastructure and emerging technologies. March 1 Trump signs an additional executive order instructing the Commerce Departmentto considerwhether tariffs on lumber and timber are also needed to protect national security, arguing that the construction industry and military depend on a strong supply of wooden products in the U.S. March 4 Trump's 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexicogo into effect, though he limits the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. He also doubles the tariff on all Chinese imports to 20%. All three countries promise retaliatory measures. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country would respondwith its own retaliatory tariffson U.S. goods without specifying the targeted products immediately, signaling hopes to de-escalate. China, meanwhile,imposes tariffs of up to 15%on a wide array of key U.S. farm exports, set to take effect March 10. It also expands the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen. March 5 Trump grants a one-month exemption on his new tariffs impacting goods from Mexico and Canadafor U.S. automakers. The pause arrives after the president spoke with leaders of the "Big 3" automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. March 6 In a wider extension, Trumppostpones25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month. Trump credited Sheinbaum with making progress on border security and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs. His actions also thaw relations with Canada somewhat, althoughoutrage and uncertaintyremains. Still, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on U.S. goods, the government says it's suspended a second wave of retaliatory tariffs worth $125 billion Canadian (US$87 billion). March 10 China's retaliatory15% tariffs on key American farm products— including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef — take effect. Goods already in transit are set to be exempt through April 12, per China's Commerce Ministry previous announcement. March 12 Trump's new tariffs on all steel and aluminum importsgo into effect. Both metals arenow taxed at 25%across the board — with Trump's order to remove steel exemptions and raise aluminum's levy fromhis previously-imposed2018import taxes. The European Union takesretaliatory trade actionpromising new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products. The measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during Trump's first term. The 27-member bloc later says it willdelay this retaliatory actionuntil mid-April. Canada, meanwhile, announcesplans to impose more retaliatory tariffsworth Canadian $29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) on U.S. imports, set to go into effect March 13. March 13 Trump threatens a200% tariffon European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with its previously-announced plans for a 50% tariff on American whiskey. March 24 Trump says he will place a 25% tariff on all imports fromany country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, in addition to imposing new tariffs on the South American country itself, starting April 2. The tariffs would most likely add to the taxes facing China, which in 2023 bought 68% of the oil exported by Venezuela, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But a number of countries also receive oil from Venezuela — including the United States itself. March 26 Trump says he is placing25% tariffs on auto imports. These auto imports will start being collected April 3 — beginning with taxes on fully-imported cars. The tariffs are set to then expand to applicable auto parts in the following weeks, through May 3. April 2 Trumpannounces his long-promised "reciprocal" tariffs— declaring a 10% baseline tax on imports across the board starting April 5, as well as higher rates for dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the U.S. to take effect April 9. Among those steeper levies, Trump says the U.S. will now charge a 34% tax on imports from China, a 20% tax on imports from the European Union, 25% on South Korea, 24% on Japan and 32% on Taiwan. Thenew tariffs come on topof previously-imposed levies, including the 20% tax Trump announced on all Chinese imports earlier this year. Meanwhile, for Canada and Mexico, the White House says USMCA-compliant imports can continue to enter the U.S. duty-free. Once the two countries have satisfied Trump's demands on immigration and drug trafficking, the White House adds, the tariff on the rest of their imports may drop from 25% to 12%. April 3 Trump's previously-announcedauto tariffs begin. Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada will match the 25% levies with atariff on vehicles imported from the U.S. April 4 China announcesplans to impose a 34% tariffon imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10, matching Trump's new "reciprocal" tariff on Chinese goods, as part of a flurry of retaliatory measures. The Commerce Ministry in Beijing says it will also impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products like computer chips and electric vehicle batteries. And the government adds27 firmsto lists of companies subject to trade sanctions or export controls. April 5 Trump's 10% minimum tariff on nearly all countries and territories takes effect. April 9 Trump's higher "reciprocal" ratesgo into effect, hiking taxes on imports from dozens of countries just after midnight. But hours later, his administration says it willsuspend most of these higher rates for 90 days, while maintaining the recently-imposed 10% levy on nearly all global imports. China is the exception. After following throughon a threatto raise levies against China to a total of 104%, Trump says he will now raise those import taxes to 125% "effective immediately" — escalating tit-for-tat duties that have piled up between the two countries. The White House later clarifies that total tariffs against China areactually now 145%, once his previous 20% fentanyl tariffs are accounted for. China upped its retaliation prior to this announcement — vowing to tax American goodsat 84% starting April 10.Also earlier, EU member statesvote to approve their own retaliatory levieson 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion) of U.S. goods in response to Trump's previously-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU's executive commission doesn't immediately specify which imports it will tax, but notes its counter tariffs will come in stages — with some set to arrive on April 15, and others May 15 and Dec. 1. Separately, Canada'scounter tariffs on auto importstake effect. The country implements a 25% levy on auto imports from the U.S. that do not comply with the 2020 USMCA pact. April 10 The EU putsits steel and aluminum tariff retaliation on hold for 90 days, to match Trump's pause on steeper "reciprocal" levies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the commission wants to give negotiations with the U.S. a chance — but warns countermeasures will kick in if talks "are not satisfactory." April 11 Chinasays it will raise tariffs on U.S. goodsfrom 84% to 125%, in response to Trump's heightened levies. The new rate is set to begin April 12. Later, the Trump administration unveils that electronics, including smartphones and laptops,will be exemptfrom so-called "reciprocal" tariffs. But in the days following, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signals that this isonly a temporary reprieve, saying that sector-specific levies on semiconductors will arrive in "probably a month or two." And other, non-"reciprocal" tariffs that tax some electronics, notably from China, remain. April 14 Trump says hemight temporarily exemptthe auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains. The Trump administration alsolaunches investigationsinto imports of computer chips, chipmaking equipment and pharmaceuticals — signaling next steps toward imposing tariffs on these sectors. The U.S. Commerce Department posts notices about these probes, seeking public comment within the next three weeks. Separately, the Commerce Department says it's withdrawing from a 2019 agreement that had suspended an antidumping investigation into fresh tomato imports from Mexico. That termination, set to take effect July 14, means most tomatoes from Mexico will be subject to a 20.91% tariff. April 29 Trump signs executive orders torelax some of his 25% tariffson automobiles and auto parts — aimed at easing import taxes for vehicles that are made with foreign parts, but assembled in the U.S. For one year, the administration says it will provide a rebate of 3.75% relative to the sales prices of a domestically-assembled car — a figure reached by putting the previously-imposed 25% import tax on parts that make up 15% of that price. And for the second year, the rebate would equal 2.5% of the sales price, applying to a smaller share of the vehicle's parts. May 3 The latest round of Trump's auto tariffs takes effect. The previously-announced 25% levies now apply to a range of imported auto parts. May 4 Trumpthreatens a 100% tariffon foreign-made films, while claiming that the movie industry in the U.S. is dying. It isn't immediately clear how such a tariff on international productions could be implemented, but Trump says he's authorized the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative to "immediately begin the process." May 8 The United States and Britain announce atrade deal, potentially lowering the financial burden from tariffs while creating greater access abroad for American goods. Britain says the deal will cut tariffs on U.K. cars from 27.5% to 10%, with a quota of 100,000 U.K. vehicles that can be imported to the U.S. at a 10% tariff. It also eliminate tariffs on steel and aluminum. Under the agreement, the U.K. is also to buy more American beef and ethanol, and streamline its customs process for goods from the U.S. But Trump's baseline 10% tariffs against British goods are to stay in place. Separately, the EU publishes a list of U.S. imports that it would target with retaliatory duties if no solution is found to end U.S. President Donald Trump'stariff war. The European Commission also says it would begin legal action at the World Trade Organization over the "reciprocal tariffs" that Trump imposed on countries around the world a month ago. May 12 The United States and Chinaagree to roll backmost of the tariffs each nation had imposed on the other and declared a 90-day truce in their trade war. The Trump administration says it will reduce the 145% duties it had imposed on imports from China to 30%, while China says it would cut its 125% tariffs on U.S. goods to 10%. May 23 Trumpthreatens a 25% tariffonAppleproducts unless its iPhones are made in the U.S. — making the tech giant the latest company caught in the crosshairs of the White House's tariff promises. In response to Trump's import taxes on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook had previously said that most iPhones solid in the U.S. during the current fiscal quarter would come from India, with iPads and other devices being imported from Vietnam. The president also moves to escalate his trade war with the EU — threatening to slap a 50% tax on all imports from the 27-nation bloc starting June 1. In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump claims that trade discussions with the EU are "going nowhere."
Trump's tariffs have launched global trade wars. Here's a timeline of how we got here NEW YORK (AP) — Volley after volley of newtari...
