Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates To Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment
The order raises tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% — up from 84% — in response to China's announced retaliatory 84% duty on U.S. goods, while simultaneously suspending country-specific tariff rates for more than 75 other trading partners for 90 days and replacing them with a flat 10% rate.
It is the third executive action in eight days escalating the reciprocal-tariff framework declared on April 2, 2025, and it makes the sharpest distinction yet between China, which faces higher duties, and the rest of the world, which receives a temporary pause intended to open space for trade negotiations.
What this order does
What it orders
The order raises the ad valorem duty on imports from China (including Hong Kong and Macau) from 84% to 125%, effective April 10, 2025, citing China's announced retaliatory 84% tariff on U.S. goods as the trigger. At the same time, it suspends the individual country-specific tariff rates that had been imposed on more than 75 other trading partners under Annex I of Executive Order 14257, replacing them with a uniform 10% additional duty for a 90-day window running from April 10 through July 9, 2025. The order also raises de minimis postal duty rates on low-value Chinese shipments: the ad valorem rate increases from 90% to 120%, the per-package flat fee rises from $75 to $100 for the period May 2 through June 1, 2025, and from $150 to $200 beginning June 1, 2025.
The order does not affect tariff exceptions already established in Executive Order 14257 and maintains all prior exclusions. The Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Homeland Security, and U.S. Trade Representative are directed to implement the changes, including through Federal Register notices and regulatory amendments, using full IEEPA authority.
Who it affects
U.S. importers sourcing goods from China, who face a 125% duty; importers from 75+ other countries, who see their country-specific rates paused at 10% for 90 days; consumers purchasing low-value packages shipped from China; and U.S. exporters whose goods face China's 84% retaliatory tariff.
Why it matters
Importers of Chinese goods face one of the highest ad valorem tariff rates in modern U.S. history, raising costs on a wide range of consumer and industrial products. Importers from most of the rest of the world get a 90-day reprieve at a lower rate, creating divergent cost conditions depending on country of origin that businesses must navigate immediately.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The tariff changes are implemented by directly amending specific headings in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, making them self-executing through Customs and Border Protection's ordinary import-processing machinery — no further rulemaking is required for the rate changes themselves. USTR, Commerce, and DHS are authorized to issue Federal Register notices and regulatory amendments to support enforcement. The 90-day suspension for non-China trading partners runs automatically and expires July 9, 2025, at which point country-specific rates could reimpose unless a further modification order is issued.
Actions and deadlines
- Raise ad valorem duty rate on Chinese imports from 84% to 125% by amending the HTSUS
- Suspend country-specific Annex I tariff rates and apply a uniform 10% rate to all other trading partners
- Restore country-specific Annex I tariff rates unless further modified (end of 90-day suspension)
- Increase de minimis ad valorem duty on Chinese low-value imports from 90% to 120%
- Increase per-postal-item flat duty on Chinese packages from $75 to $100
- Increase per-postal-item flat duty on Chinese packages from $100 to $200
- Implement the order through regulatory amendments and Federal Register notices