Source: Blog – Alliance for American Manufacturing

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on January 20, 2025. | Getty Images

The president has been in office for four weeks. Here’s what he’s done on tariffs so far.

Americans are super curious about tariffs, including, famously, “who pays for them.”

That’s because President Trump has regularly invoked the threat of tariffs, first on the campaign trail, and now from the White House, and has backed that up with several actions since he took office in January.

One of the very first executive actions he took was signing a memo that kicked into gear 23(!) distinct reports and recommendations related to tariffs and trade policy. My colleague Scott Boos and I provided topline summaries and implications of all of these on our recent Manufacturing Report podcast — be sure to have a listen if you’d like the full story.

While that memo sets a deadline of April 1 for almost all the recommendations, Trump has recently set into motion some actual, likely, and possible tariff actions on China (and perhaps Mexico and Canada), all imports of steel and aluminum, and country-by-country reciprocal tariffs.

Let’s run through these three actions.

On February 1, President Trump said he would impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China in response to issues related to fentanyl and immigration. The administration announced these tariffs under an authority called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. These actions include a 25% tariff on all imported products from Mexico and Canada, with a reduced 10% tariff on energy resources from Canada. Additionally, a 10% tariff was imposed on all imported products from China. While the China tariff has gone into effect, the Canada and Mexico tariffs are on hold until March, pending negotiations.

The administration cited the threat posed by undocumented immigration and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, as a national emergency. The tariffs aim to hold these countries accountable for their promises to stop the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

On February 10 and 11, President Trump reinstated and expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The two presidential proclamations he signed fully reinstate and further expand the tariffs initially imposed in 2018 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and largely maintained by the Biden administration. These proclamations closed existing loopholes and exemptions, restoring a true 25% tariff on steel and increasing the tariff on aluminum from 10% to 25%.

The key changes include:

A. Termination of all alternate arrangements made with countries such as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

B. Elimination of the tariff exclusion request process for specific products.

C. Expansion of the tariffs to cover certain downstream products not previously subject to the tariffs.

These measures are intended to protect critical domestic steel and aluminum industries from unfair trade practices and global excess capacity, which have been harming these sectors. The changes will be effective as of March 12, leaving some time for negotiation or modification.

Also last week, President Trump signed an executive memorandum on “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs” directing his economic team to create a “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” for imposing a supplemental tariff. This plan is designed to counteract a wide range of tariff, tax, and non-tariff barriers that negatively affect U.S. producers selling into foreign markets. The memorandum directs the Commerce Secretary and the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Treasury Department and other designated administration officials, to assess in a country-by-country report whether remedies are necessary to ensure reciprocal trade relations.

The plan aims to capture all measures that disadvantage the United States, regardless of their nature or whether they are written or unwritten. It includes an analysis of tariffs, unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes (including value-added taxes), non-tariff barriers, and exchange rates. The goal is to ensure comprehensive fairness and balance across the international trading system, reduce the trade deficit, grow the U.S. economy, and improve U.S. trade relationships to benefit American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses. It’s unclear whether or when actual tariffs under this authority will be imposed.

Interest in tariff actions, as I mentioned, is high. I took calls on C-SPAN this morning and will be featured on a live debate on the China tariff that will air on a number of NPR stations around the country beginning February 28.  Stay tuned to this space for additional updates. 

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