Imposing Duties To Address the Situation at Our Southern Border

The order imposes a 25 percent additional ad valorem tariff on all articles that are products of Mexico, starting at 12:01 a.m. on February 4, 2025. It directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (the official list of import duty rates) by Federal Register notice to implement the new rates. The tariff applies on top of any existing duties and bars importers from using duty drawback refunds or the de minimis exemption that normally allows low-value shipments in duty-free. Goods already loaded onto a vessel or in transit before February 1, 2025 are exempt if the importer certifies that fact to Customs.

The tariffs remain in place until the President determines Mexico has taken adequate steps to curb illegal migration and drug trafficking, at which point they are to be removed. If Mexico retaliates with its own import duties on U.S. goods, the President reserves the right to increase or broaden the tariffs. The order also expands the scope of the national emergency previously declared in Proclamation 10886 of January 20, 2025, invoking both the National Emergencies Act and IEEPA to ground the tariff authority.

U.S. importers of Mexican goods across all sectors, American businesses and consumers whose supply chains or products rely on Mexican imports, and Mexican exporters. Federal agencies implementing and enforcing the tariffs — especially Customs and Border Protection — are also directly affected.

A 25 percent tariff on all Mexican imports — Mexico is one of the United States' largest trading partners — raises costs throughout supply chains in automobiles, agriculture, electronics, and consumer goods. American businesses that source from Mexico face immediate price increases, which can be passed to consumers.

The Secretary of Homeland Security modifies the official tariff schedule by Federal Register notice to make the 25 percent rate legally effective. CBP then collects the additional duty at the border. The Secretary of Homeland Security consults regularly with the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce, the Attorney General, and senior White House advisers, and reports to the President on whether Mexico has acted sufficiently — triggering either tariff removal or escalation. Recurring reports to Congress are required under IEEPA and the National Emergencies Act. The tariffs stay in force until expressly reduced, modified, or terminated by the President.