in effect
This is Executive Order 14257, signed April 2, 2025, in which the President declares a national emergency over large and persistent U.S. goods trade deficits, citing authorities including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). It directs new import taxes (tariffs) on goods entering the United States and instructs federal agencies to put those tariffs into effect and adjust them over time.
It adds a 10 percent tax on top of existing duties to nearly all imported goods, effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5, 2025, with goods already in transit before that time exempted. Starting 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 9, 2025, higher country-specific rates listed in the order’s Annex I replace the flat 10 percent for the trading partners named there. Certain goods are excluded (Annex II), including steel, aluminum, autos and auto parts already taxed under other measures, plus copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, some critical minerals, and energy products. Canada and Mexico are handled under separate existing border-related orders — goods that qualify under the USMCA trade agreement keep their preferential treatment, while non-qualifying goods generally face a 25 percent duty (10 percent for Canadian energy and potash). The tariff applies only to the non-U.S. portion of a product’s value when at least 20 percent of that value is U.S.-made, and the order lets the President raise the rates if partners retaliate or lower them if partners change their practices.
U.S. importers and the businesses that bring foreign goods into the country are directly responsible for paying the added duties, and foreign trading partners named in Annex I face the higher country-specific rates. U.S. Customs and Border Protection administers and verifies the tariffs, including checking the U.S.-content share of imported goods. The order affects trade with essentially all U.S. trading partners except where specific exclusions or the separate Canada and Mexico arrangements apply.