Trump Administration

Key Facts:

  • President Trump is imposing tariffs on all imported goods from Mexico beginning on June 10, 2019
  • The tariff rate will begin at 5% and increase to 10% on July 1, 15% on August 1, 20% on September 1, and 25% on October 1, 2019.
  • The tariffs will remain at 25% until “Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory”

On May 30, 2019, President Trump announced that he would impose tariffs on all imported goods from Mexico beginning on June 10, 2019 at a 5% duty rate and increasing an additional 5% each month for three months.

On Monday, May 6, 2019, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer piggybacking on the President’s tweet announced that the tariff rate on the third tranche (List 3) of Section 301 tariffs would be increased from 10% to 25% at 12:01am on May 10, 2019. Robert Lighthizer issued a statement that USTR plans to release a draft federal register notice on the tariffs today; however, nothing further has been published or announced in the Federal Register for Tuesday May 7, 2019.

On Sunday, May 5, 2019, President Trump announced via Twitter that the tariff rate on the third tranche (List 3) of Section 301 tariffs would be increasing from 10% to 25% on Friday, May 10, 2019. According to the tweet, the reason for the increase is that the trade deal negotiations are moving “too slowly” and China’s attempt to “renegotiate.”

In the tweet the President also stated that an additional $325 billion dollars’ worth of goods “will be shortly” taxed at a rate of 25%.

On April 21, 2019, the White House announced that President Trump has decided not to reissue the Iranian oil sanctions waivers, called “Significant Reduction Exceptions” (SREs) when they expire in early May. The White House statement explained that “[t]his decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.”

On Sunday, February 17, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce reportedly submitted its report to the President following its investigation into whether imported cars and parts pose a threat to national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This investigation was initiated in May 2018 at President Trump’s request.  The report has not been released to the public yet. The administration is required to release any part of the report that does not contain classified information in the Federal Register.

On Saturday, December 1, 2018, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met to discuss trade relations between the two countries. Following their meeting, President Trump indicated that he would postpone increasing the tariff rate to 25% on certain Chinese goods worth up to $200 billion currently covered under Section 301 List 3. This increase was originally slated for January 1, 2019 (see our previous post here).  The 10% duties on that $200 million in goods will remain in effect, however, as will the 25% tariffs on the goods worth about $50 billion, which appear on the first and second list of additional duties. According to the White House press statement, the parties agreed to “endeavor” on a 90-day period, until March 1, 2019, to discuss the restructuring of China’s trade policies and come to an agreement.