Washington: Customs agents in the United States began enforcing President Donald Trump’s unilateral 10% tariff on imports from numerous countries on Saturday, with higher tariffs on goods from 57 larger trading partners set to take effect next week.
The 10% “baseline” tariff went into effect at U.S. seaports, airports, and customs warehouses at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT), marking a significant shift in trade policy under Trump’s administration. This move signals his full rejection of the post-World War II system of mutually agreed tariff rates.
“This is the single biggest trade action of our lifetime,” said Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former White House trade adviser during Trump’s first term. Shaw, speaking at a Brookings Institution event on Thursday, anticipated that the tariffs would evolve as countries seek to negotiate lower rates. “But this is huge. This is a seismic shift in how we trade with every country on earth,” she added.
Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday rattled global stock markets, leading to a record $5 trillion loss in stock market value for S&P 500 companies by Friday’s close, marking a dramatic two-day decline. Commodity and oil prices plummeted, and investors flocked to the safety of government bonds.
The initial countries impacted by the 10% tariff include Australia, Britain, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin to shippers confirmed that there would be no grace period for cargoes arriving after midnight Saturday. However, a 51-day grace period was provided for cargoes loaded before 12:01 am ET on Saturday. These shipments must arrive in the U.S. by 12:01 am ET on May 27 to avoid the new tariff.
Additionally, Trump’s higher “reciprocal” tariffs, ranging from 11% to 50%, are scheduled to take effect on Wednesday. The European Union will face a 20% tariff on imports, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34% tariff, bringing the total new levies on China to 54%. Vietnam, which benefited from the shift of U.S. supply chains away from China during Trump’s first-term trade war, will face a 46% tariff and agreed to discuss a deal with Trump on Friday.
Canada and Mexico were excluded from the new duties, as they remain subject to a 25% tariff related to the U.S. fentanyl crisis for goods that do not meet the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules of origin.
The Trump administration also exempted several product categories from the tariffs, including crude oil, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, uranium, titanium, lumber, semiconductors, and copper. These exemptions, valued at $645 billion in imports by 2024, do not include energy products, and the administration is investigating further national security tariffs in some sectors, such as steel, aluminum, cars, trucks, and auto parts.
