On March 27, the IHA Government Affairs team conducted the webinar, “Tariff Update from Washington, DC,” to provide basic information on President Trump’s tariffs. Executives from freight logistics services provider TQL Global, LLC, also provided their experience with the tariffs.
The IHA webinar covered the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada; 20% tariffs on China; 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum; de minimis shipments, the U.S. Trade Representative’s proposed port-entry fees for Chinese ships; and Trump’s “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs Memorandum.” Answering all questions wasn’t possible due to time constraints and here are several from the queue:
Q. Is the 25% tariff on steel and aluminum to be additive to the general 20% tariff on China?
A. Yes, the 25% tariff on steel and aluminum under Sec. 232 of the Trade Expansion Act is additive to the 20% tariff imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). These two tariffs are also additive to products covered by 25% tariffs under Sec. 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for items on Lists 1, 2 and 3, and the 7.5% for List 4a. However, TQL showed paperwork indicating that in some cases the 301 tariffs could be replaced by the 20% IEEPA tariff instead of added to it.
Q. Is there an updated website for HTS to see the revised added tariff?
A. President Trump’s Proclamations imposing steel and aluminum tariffs cover certain downstream (derivative) products and each has an annex listing the HTS numbers. Proclamation links are here:
Federal Register :: Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the United States
Federal Register :: Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States
Also, pursuant to the proclamations, the Dept. of Commerce published revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) in the Federal Register on March 5 and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted updated guidance (bulletins) on March 11.
Q. For de minimis shipments, is there an idea of how much longer packages can ship tariff free based on the limited resources to monitor packages?
A. President Trump’s imposition of 10% IEEPA tariffs on China (now 20%) also ended the de minimis tariff exclusion for such shipments coming from China, but CBP and USPS requested a delay to put in place adequate systems for monitoring these shipments. On April 2, President Trump announced adequate system are in place and the de minimis exclusion will be closed as of May 2, 2025.
April 2 also saw President Trump announce increased U.S. tariffs to match what other countries charge on their imports per cabinet input pursuant to his “Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs Memorandum.” The tariffs include a baseline 10% on countries not charged higher rates and reciprocal tariffs.
To summarize, April 5 is the date the 10% baseline tariffs take effect; April 9 is the date the higher reciprocal tariffs take effect, i.e., the European Union at 20%, Japan at 24%, China at 34%, and Vietnam at 46% to name a few. However, reciprocal tariffs don’t apply to Canada or Mexico or to goods covered by the Sec. 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.
The President declared a national emergency to impose the tariffs under IEEPA and his Executive Order states that the “trade deficit reflects asymmetries in trade relationships that have contributed to the atrophy of domestic production capacity, especially that of the U.S. manufacturing and defense-industrial base. These asymmetries also impact U.S. producers’ ability to export and, consequentially, their incentive to produce.”
