Trump Increases Tariffs on Dozens of Countries

In a series of Executive Orders issued during the last week of July 2025, President Trump ordered the increase of tariff rates for imports originating from dozens of countries, effective August 7, 2025. The increases do not apply to China and Mexico because President Trump has delayed a decision on the final tariff rates for imports from those countries. Companies should prepare accordingly to face higher costs from imported goods and potentially reevaluate their sourcing options. U.S. importers should re-examine their import practices to mitigate the effect of these tariffs and the risk of penalties for import errors in view of the heightened stakes.

Higher Import Tariffs and Trade Agreements.

In April 2025, President Trump announced the implementation of “reciprocal tariffs” citing his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”). President Trump originally tied the tariff rates to the size of the trade deficit between the United States and each trading partner, as  described in our April 4, 2025 eUpdate. President Trump subsequently announced a 90-day reduction of reciprocal tariff rates to 10% for nearly all countries to allow for trade negotiations, as reported.

Since then, the Trump administration has sought to negotiate trade deals with various trading partners. The White House has announced deals with the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. These trade deals generally resulted in lower reciprocal tariff rates than those threatened by President Trump, include investment or purchase commitments from the U.S. trading partners, and contemplate further negotiations on key issues. Information on the rules of origin under these new agreements are still unknown and presumably will be the subject of further negotiations.

On July 31, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order that reimposed higher reciprocal tariff rates for over 100 countries, while retaining a 10% reciprocal tariff rate for most other countries (the “Modified Tariffs EO”). [1] At the end of this eUpdate, we summarize the adjusted tariff rates for the countries affected by the rate increases. Countries not on the chart are subject to a 10% reciprocal tariff rate. China and Mexico are on separate trade negotiation tracks that may result in new reciprocal tariff rates. According to press reports, President Trump announced a further 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on Mexican-origin goods on July 31, 2025, which means the current 25% IEEPA-based tariff rate continues to apply, with an exception for goods that satisfy the rules of origin under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”). As reported, President Trump announced a 90-day reduction of the reciprocal tariff rate on Chinese-origin goods in May 2025, which means the effective IEEPA-based tariff rate on Chinese-origin goods currently stands at 30% with some exceptions. Set to expire on August 12, there are news reports that President Trump may extend that tariff reduction to allow more time for trade negotiations with China.

Under the recent Executive Orders, certain countries face particularly high tariff rates. With respect to Brazil, President Trump cited his IEEPA authority to impose a special 40% tariff rate plus the 10% reciprocal tariff rate under the Modified Tariffs EO. [2] The net result is a 50% IEEPA-based tariff rate on Brazilian origin goods, with some exceptions. President Trump also has threatened to impose additional tariffs on Indian-origin goods for India’s trade in energy items with Russia.

For Canada, goods that do not meet the USMCA rules of origin are subject to a 35% IEEPA-based tariff as of August 1, 2025, with some exceptions. President Trump announced this change in an Executive Order (“Modified Canada EO”) that increased the previous 25% IEEPA-based tariff that President Trump imposed in February 2025. [3] For its part, Canada has imposed countermeasure tariffs on U.S.-origin goods, and it remains to be seen whether the Canadian Government will impose further measures in response to this tariff increase.

Transshipment.

Both the Modified Tariffs EO and the Modified Canada EO establish a 40% additional tariff that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) may impose on goods determined to have been transshipped to avoid the applicable IEEPA-based tariff rates. [4] Under these EOs, President Trump directs CBP to “not allow…for mitigation or remission of penalties” if an import is subject to transshipment to evade reciprocal tariffs. CBP already has regulations and policies governing enforcement actions against transshipment to disguise the country of origin of goods. It remains unclear how the White House intends to define transshipment; how CBP will implement this new directive in view of its existing practices; and whether any clarification will be forthcoming.

Section 232 Tariffs.

President Trump’s recent Executive Orders leave in place the prior “stacking order” on Section 232 duties, which are imposed on a product-specific or industry-specific basis. Under that order, Section 232 duties do not apply in addition to reciprocal tariffs for aluminum, automobiles, copper, and steel. However, some composite or derivative goods may be subject to additional requirements to report duties for the applicable content portion.

President Trump also has ordered Section 232 investigations that may result in tariffs on commercial aircraft jets and jet engines, lumber and timber goods, pharmaceuticals and their ingredients, polysilicon, critical minerals, semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, trucks and truck parts, unmanned aircraft systems and their parts, and certain derivatives of those products. It remains to be seen what, if any, tariffs will result from those Section 232 investigations.

Legal Uncertainty Over Tariffs.

On the same day that President Trump issued the Modified Tariffs EO, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) held oral arguments in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States to consider whether the IEEPA tariffs are lawful. Audio of the oral argument is available to the public at this link.

As we described, the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) previously held that President Trump exceeded his IEEPA authority to impose many of  these tariffs. The CIT ordered the Trump administration to stop collecting the IEEPA tariffs generally, but the CAFC stayed this decision pending appeal. Given the high stakes of this case, it is likely that at the unsuccessful party will seek further review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

V.O.S. Selections, Inc. creates a cloud of uncertainty over the trade negotiations and deals summarized above. The Trump administration claims that IEEPA provides a legal avenue for the imposition of these reciprocal tariffs, and that negotiations with trading partners naturally follows from this IEEPA authority to address threats to the United States. However, it is possible that the CAFC or the Supreme Court will ultimately agree with the CIT and find that the President exceeded his IEEPA authority in issuing these tariffs. If that happens, the Trump administration’s underlying legal basis for these negotiations will be no longer valid. In such circumstance, it is possible that trading partners would reconsider the agreements reached with the Trump administration. Although the Trump administration has a variety of tools that it could use to implement the same or similar tariffs, those alternative methods likely would take more time and could face additional legal challenges.

Recent Developments on De Minimis and Copper.

Separately, on July 30, President Trump ordered changes to the rule governing the so-called de minimis imports. [5] Effective August 29, President Trump ordered the suspension of privileges for all de minimis import entries, which are entries valued at $800 or less per day to one consignee. De minimis imports, except those originating from China or carried through the international postal network through China and Hong Kong, are currently exempt from import tariffs with a few exceptions. Under this new executive order, de minimis entries will incur a flat tariff rate of $80 per item if the IEEPA rate is less than 16%, $160 per item if the IEEPA rate is between 16-25%, and $200 per item if the IEEPA rate is above 25%.