Tariffs Timeline
jimmy_thang
April 23, 2025
We provide a detailed breakdown and timeline of the tariffs impacting the United States
The Highlights
- The US has imposed wide-spread tariffs on most of the countries in the world
- Our timeline chronicles the shifting nature of the tariffs
- Tariffs have impacted the pricing and availability of hardware in the US
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Our timeline below accompanies our deep-dive investigation into the impact of the tariffs roll-out on the computer hardware industry. Our investigation focused on not just the percentages, but specifically, the way in which they were announced and applied.
We flew around the country to meet with factories in the US, manufacturers who use contract manufacturing in other countries (like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, so forth), German manufacturers, and more. Our interview list included Hyte, Thermal Grizzly, Protocase/45 Drives, iBUYPOWER, CyberPower PC, Corsair Components, freight forwarding company Straight Forwarding, and Louis Rossmann of Rossmann Repair.
You can find that video embedded below. Below that, we have included the entire timeline of tariff changes that we could find. It is dated back to 2018. Please note that we have likely missed a few things, as this situation changes nearly daily and our regular coverage spectrum has not traditionally included following these changes; however, we believe we have compiled all of the major changes that are directly relevant to this story, particularly as it relates to computer hardware. This was a huge team effort at GN and required a massive investment in travel and time to complete our 3-hour documentary. If you find it educational, we ask that you please support us directly by buying something from our store. You can find high heat resistant project and soldering mats, PC building Modmats, T-shirts with paper launch GPUs or Honey Pots from our lawsuit against PayPal, copper-plated stainless steel mule mugs with thermal conductivity written on them, tabletop gaming dice with embedded inductors or cats, and more. Thank you.
Credits
Host, Writing, Lead Editing
Steve Burke
Lead Camera, Storyboarding, Editing
Vitalii Makhnovets
Pre-Cut, Labeling
Mike Gaglione
Tim Phetdara
Animations, Labeling
Andrew Coleman
Writing, Research
Jimmy Thang
Ben Benson
US Tariffs Timeline
This timeline is sorted chronologically. We have attempted to present it as neutrally as feasible and from a place of covering the impact and events. As a part of this effort, we are also including links to sources with ideologies we may not agree with, but which we believe are appropriate for establishing the timeline of events.
Note on Sources
Our intent is to cite primary sources, including government documents, and a variety of secondary sources. In some cases, we link only to secondary news stories. This can occur when a government announcement happens during briefings or interviews with reporters.
Background: Tariffs During The First Trump Administration & Biden Administration
- Jan. 22, 2018: The Trump Administration imposed tariffs on solar panel components and residential washing machines. Solar panel components had a 30% tariff, which would decline over four years. The administration levied a tariff of 20% on the first 1.2 million imported washers, which could increase to 50%.
- March 8, 2018: President Trump announced a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports for many countries, not including Canada and Mexico.
- Federal Register (1, 2)
- NPR
- May 31, 2018: The Trump Administration imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports for Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The administration said it had “reached arrangements on steel with Australia, Argentina, and Brazil, and with Australia and Argentina on aluminum.”
- June 29, 2018: Canada announced tariffs targeted at U.S. steel and aluminum products, in addition to other goods. The tariffs would go into effect on July 1, 2018.
- Sept. 18, 2018: The United States issued $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, citing the need to protect “intellectual property.”
- May 17, 2019: The United States removed tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.
- July 1, 2020: The USMCA - a trade agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico - goes into effect.
- Sept. 30, 2021: In a Politico interview, a Biden administration official said the United States will “build on” existing tariffs that are levied against China.
- May 14, 2024: The Biden Administration increased tariffs on imports from China for electric vehicles, solar cells, lithium-ion vehicle batteries, and semiconductors, among other products. Tariff increases ranged from 25% to 100%.
- Sept. 13, 2024: The Biden Administration finalized tariff rates and exceptions from the May tariff announcement. Updates included new timing, rates and exclusions for some medical devices, solar manufacturing equipment, and wafers.
Tariffs During The Second Trump Administration
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Monday, Jan. 20
On inauguration day, President Trump said the U.S. government would implement 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, starting on Feb. 1.
Sunday, Jan. 26
The Trump Administration said it would impose 25% tariffs on imports from Colombia after an immigration dispute. In response, the Colombian government threatened 25% tariffs on imports from the United States. The situation deescalated after the two countries reached an agreement.
Saturday, Feb. 1
The Trump Administration announced 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Energy imports from Canada would have a lower tariff rate of 10%.
The Trump Administration announced 10% tariffs on imports from China.
The tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China would go into effect on February 4.
Monday, Feb. 3
The Trump Administration agreed to a 30-day pause on tariffs with Canada and Mexico after negotiations.
President Trump told reporters that the European Union could face tariffs soon.
Tuesday, Feb. 4
The United States imposed a 10% tariff on imports from China, as announced on February 1.
China announced new tariffs on imports from the United States, including a 15% duty on coal and liquefied natural gas. China also announced 10% tariffs on imported crude oil, agricultural machinery, and pickup trucks. These tariffs would go into effect on February 10.
China announced export controls on several minerals and began investigating Google for antitrust violations.
Monday, Feb. 10
In a continuation of tariffs from 2018, the Trump Administration announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum, which would go into effect on March 12. The administration stopped providing exemptions for steel and aluminum imports from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
To avoid confusion with other tariff names, we will refer to these as steel tariffs and aluminum tariffs going forward.
China’s tariffs on imports against the United States went into effect, as announced on Feb. 4.
Thursday, February 13
The Trump Administration announced the Fair and Reciprocal Plan, a trade plan intended “to reduce [the United States’] large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods and to address other unfair and unbalanced aspects of [its] trade with foreign trading partners.”
The White House said the trade plan would determine “the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner.”
To avoid confusion with other tariff names, we will use the reciprocal tariff naming for these specific tariffs going forward.
Monday, March 3
The Trump Administration raised tariffs on imports from China from 10% to 20%.
Tuesday, March 4
The United States’ 20% tariffs on imports from China go into effect.
The United States’ 25% tariffs on imports from Canada go into effect. The United States taxed Canadian energy imports at 10%, rather than 25%.
The United States’ 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico go into effect.
China announced tariffs of 10%-15% on U.S. farm and food exports and added 10 U.S. companies to its unreliable entity list.
- Sources
- China - Government Documents (1, 2)
- Reuters (1, 2)
- Xinhua
Canada announced 25% tariffs on many U.S. imports. The Canadian government said the tariffs would cover U.S. goods worth C$30 billion (~$20.7 billion) immediately.
Wednesday, March 5
The Trump Administration paused tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico for one month. According to White House officials, the pause happened after President Trump spoke with leaders of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
Thursday, March 6
The Trump Administration paused tariffs on some products from Canada and Mexico that are compliant with the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), a free trade agreement.
White House officials informed media outlets that 50% of Mexican imports and 38% of Canadian imports are compliant with the USMCA.
Monday, March 10
As announced on March 4, China began imposing 10-15% tariffs on many farm products from the United States, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef and chicken.
Wednesday, March 12
The United States’ 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect.
Canada increased its tariffs on U.S. imported steel and aluminum products by 25%. The Canadian government said the affected products include tools, computers, servers, and display monitors, among other products. The tariffs would go into effect on March 13.
The European Union responded with its own tariffs against the United States. The EU said that its countermeasures could “apply to US goods exports worth up to €26 billion.”
Thursday, March 13
President Trump threatened the European Union with a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Monday, March 24
The Trump Administration issued an executive order that would impose a tariff of 25% on imports from countries that import oil from Venezuela, starting on April 2.
Wednesday, March 26
The Trump Administration announced a plan to impose 25% tariffs on imported automobiles and car parts, such as engines, transmissions, and electrical components. Tariffs would begin on April 3. The administration included exemptions for USMCA-compliant auto parts.
Thursday, March 27
Industry impacts:
- Hyte announced higher prices due to incoming tariffs: Hyte blog
Wednesday, April 2
Consistent with the Fair and Reciprocal Plan from February 13, the Trump Administration announced reciprocal tariffs on many countries. In addition, the administration announced a 10% tariff on nearly all countries.
The administration said the 10% tariff rate would go into effect on April 5. The reciprocal tariffs would go into effect on April 9.
As stated on February 13, the administration implemented different reciprocal tariff rates for many trading partners. Examples:
- Vietnam - 46%
- Thailand - 36%
- Taiwan - 32%
- Japan - 24%
- European Union - 20%
The administration added a 34% reciprocal tariff to China, on top of the existing 20%, bringing the total to 54%.
Thursday, April 3
As announced on March 26, the Trump Administration's 25% tariffs on imported automobiles went into effect. The administration delayed tariffs on automotive parts until a date no later than May 3.
Industry impacts:
- META PCs issued a statement about possible price increases: Statement
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Friday, April 4
China’s government said it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods starting on April 10. China announced export controls on several rare earth minerals.
Industry impacts:
Saturday, April 5
The Trump Administration’s 10% tariff goes into effect for many countries, as announced on April 2.
Monday, April 7
Industry impacts:
- Framework paused sales of several Framework Laptop 13 models to the United States: Twitter statement.
Tuesday, April 8
The Trump Administration increased the tariff rate on imports from China by 50%. Through an executive order, the administration amended the reciprocal tariff rate for China from 34% to 84%. This tariff rate increase was in addition to the 20% tariff rate from March 4.
Industry impacts:
Reports surfaced of Razer stopping laptop sales to the United States. Razer did not publicly confirm this, but U.S. consumers were unable to buy laptops on Razer’s website.
Wednesday, April 9
The Trump Administration’s reciprocal tariff rates went into effect shortly after midnight.
Later that day, with the exception of China, the Trump Administration paused many reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. The administration did not pause the 10% tariff on imports from April 5.
China responded with an additional 50% tariff on U.S. imports. U.S. goods shipped to China now faced an 84% tariff, when accounting for the existing 34% tariff from April 4.
The Trump Administration raised tariffs on imports from China to 125%.
The European Union approved new tariffs against the United States. The EU said details would come later.
Industry impacts:
- Per a report in Nikkei, a newspaper in Asia, Apple requested suppliers to air ship premium devices to the United States before the April 9 tariff deadline.
- Framework increased prices and delayed some shipments to the United States: Framework blog
Thursday, April 10
The Trump Administration clarified to reporters that the 125% tariff on Chinese imports was in addition to the previously announced 20%. The White House confirmed the tariff rate for imports from China is 145%.
The European Union paused its tariffs against the United States.
As announced on April 4 and April 9, China’s tariffs on imports from the United States go into effect.
Friday, April 11
China increased tariffs on imports from the United States from 84% to 125%. China said the new tariff rate would go into effect on April 12.
Industry impacts:
- Per a report in Commercial Times, multiple OEMs paused laptop shipments to the United States. The reported companies included Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Mashable reached out to the three OEMs for comment; Mashable has not published a comment yet.
Friday, April 11 - Saturday, April 12
On April 11, the US federal government published guidance stating that some electronics, including smartphones and computers, are exempted from the reciprocal tariffs. Media reported that the exemptions are intended to help U.S. technology companies like Apple.
Sunday, April 13
President Trump said the United States will announce tariffs on semiconductors soon. An administration official clarified that tariff exemptions for electronics are “temporary.”
Monday, April 14
In a meeting with reporters, President Trump said he may give tariff exemptions to automobile manufacturers.
Industry impacts:
- NVIDIA announced that it will begin building AI supercomputers within the United States: NVIDIA blog
Tuesday, April 15
In a White House fact sheet, the administration said imports from China face tariffs of up to 245% on certain goods, including electric vehicles, when accounting for all previous tariffs.
Friday, April 18
The federal government announced fees for ships made in China destined for US ports. The fees could begin in October and increase over time.
Sunday, April 20
The Chinese government warned countries about cooperating with the United States on trade at the expense of China’s interest. According to a translation via the BBC, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said, “China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests. If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures.”
Tuesday, April 22
The US Department of Commerce “determined that imports of solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are being dumped into the U.S. market.” The Internal Trade Commission, a separate agency, will make the final decision on tariffs.
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