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On April 2, President Trump signed an executive order modifying U.S. tariff rates for imports from all countries. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s going on: The “Reciprocal Tariff” EO uses the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, citing “a lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, and U.S. trading partners’ economic policies that suppress domestic wages and consumption, as indicated by large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits.”

• Russia, North Korea and Cuba were not included in the newly announced tariffs because they are addressed separately in the tariff schedule already.

Global 10% baseline: A 10% tariff will apply to all products imported from all countries, with the following exceptions:

• Effective April 5, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT: The 10% tariff applies to all goods entered into or removed from a warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5—except for those products loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transportation prior to 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5.

Higher tariffs to nearly 60 nations: Annex I of the EO lists nearly 60 countries that have trade deficits with the U.S. and will be assessed country-specific ad valorem rates of duty higher than 10%.

• How the administration arrived at the rates: In this chart, the administration calculates a tariff rate it claims 185 countries are charging the U.S. That rate is determined by dividing the U.S. trade deficit with that country by the value of U.S. imports from that country in 2024. The new tariff the U.S. will charge is half of the resulting percentage, or a flat 10% rate (whichever is higher).
• Effective April 9, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT: Country-specific tariffs will apply to all goods entered into or withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 9, except for goods loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transportation before 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 9.

Canada and Mexico: Goods that qualify for and claim preferential treatment under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement may continue to enter the U.S. on these preferential terms, except products subject to Section 232 tariffs.

• For products that cannot claim USMCA preferential treatment, the 25% IEEPA duty rates as established under the Feb. 1 EOs will apply. A 10% tariff continues to apply to energy, energy resources and potash from Canada.
• If the original IEEPA EOs on Canada and Mexico imposing a 25% rate are terminated or suspended, the rate on USMCA nonqualifying imports will be reduced to a 12% tariff rate, and energy, energy resources and potash will be duty-free. Components of an article substantially finished in the U.S. would also be duty-free.

Where the tariffs stack: In general, the new tariffs are in addition to existing duties, fees and taxes, including tariffs on Chinese products already subject to Section 301 tariffs, anti-dumping and countervailing duties and 20% IEEPA tariffs.

• They may also stack onto Most-Favored Nation duties. (An upcoming Federal Register notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection will clarify.)

Where they don’t stack: New tariffs under the April 2 EO will not apply to goods enumerated in Annex II, including:

• Energy and energy products;
• Certain critical minerals;
• Products already subject to Section 232 tariffs, including steel and aluminum derivatives and vehicles and vehicle parts;
• Products subject to future Section 232 tariffs, including copper and semiconductors; and
• Articles from a trading partner subject to the rates laid out in Column 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (mostly rates on Russian goods).

Subject to change: The tariffs are subject to change, the EO notes. They may be increased if the overall U.S. trade deficit rises, or if trading partners expand “threatening” nonreciprocal trade arrangements or take retaliatory actions.

• They may be reduced in the event a partner “take[s] significant steps to remedy nonreciprocal trade arrangements.”