Amendment to Duties To Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Southern Border

The order amends Executive Order 14194 (February 1, 2025), which imposed additional tariffs on goods from Mexico. It exempts from the additional 25% ad valorem duty any Mexican goods that qualify for duty-free entry under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), including automotive parts and components that flow across North American supply chains under that agreement's terms. It separately reduces the additional tariff rate on potash — a mineral fertilizer — that does not qualify for the USMCA exemption from 25% to 10%.

Both changes are self-executing and apply to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 7, 2025. The order does not create any enforceable right or benefit for private parties and does not alter any agency's existing legal authority.

U.S. and Mexican automotive manufacturers and suppliers trading parts across North American supply chains under USMCA; importers of potash from Mexico; businesses that import any USMCA-qualifying Mexican goods that would otherwise have been subject to the additional 25% tariff under EO 14194.

Automotive companies that source parts across the U.S.-Mexico border under USMCA avoid the 25% tariff surcharge, reducing costs and supply-chain disruption. Potash importers see a reduced tariff burden, which can affect pricing for agricultural fertilizers in the United States.

The changes are self-executing at the tariff schedule level: goods entered at the border on or after March 7, 2025 that qualify for USMCA duty-free treatment are simply not assessed the additional duty, while non-USMCA potash is assessed at 10% instead of 25%. No agency rulemaking is required; Customs personnel apply the modified rates upon entry. The general-provisions clauses preserve existing agency authority and subject implementation to available appropriations.