in effect
This is Executive Order 14194, signed February 1, 2025, using presidential emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act. It expands an existing national emergency at the southern border (originally declared in Proclamation 10886) to cover Mexico’s failure to stop drug cartels, traffickers, and illicit drugs, and it directs new tariffs on goods coming from Mexico as leverage to force cooperation.
It imposes an additional 25 percent tax (ad valorem duty) on almost all products imported from Mexico, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on February 4, 2025. This 25 percent is stacked on top of any existing tariffs and fees, and importers cannot recover it through duty drawback or avoid it through the usual “de minimis” exemption for low-value shipments. Goods already loaded onto their final transport before 12:01 a.m. February 1, 2025 are exempt if the importer certifies this to Customs and Border Protection. The order also states that if Mexico retaliates with its own tariffs, the President may raise or broaden these duties further, and it tasks the Secretary of Homeland Security with making the technical tariff-schedule changes and advising when the tariffs should be removed once Mexico is judged to have done enough.
U.S. companies that import goods from Mexico pay the new 25 percent duty directly, and those higher costs can flow through to American businesses and consumers who buy Mexican-made products. The government and economy of Mexico are the target of the pressure, since the tariffs are meant to push Mexico into stronger action on drugs and migration. Several U.S. agencies—led by Homeland Security and including State, Justice, Treasury, and Commerce—are tasked with carrying out, monitoring, and reporting on the order.