Yes, in the initial April 2, 2025 plan, the United States set a 10% baseline tariff for imports from all trading partners, with higher scheduled rates for listed partners. But “all countries” did not mean every product would be charged that tariff: the order contained product exclusions and treated some Canadian and Mexican goods under separate existing orders. Later actions and trade agreements changed the picture, so the announcement alone cannot tell you the duty on an import today.
What did the April 2 announcement establish?
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14257 on April 2, 2025. It set out an additional ad valorem duty—a tariff calculated as a percentage of a good’s value—starting at 10% for covered imports from trading partners, with higher scheduled rates for partners listed in Annex I. The order’s stated policy was to “rebalance global trade flows by imposing an additional ad valorem duty on all imports from all trading partners except as otherwise provided herein.” Executive Order 14257
The White House said the initial plan’s 10% rate would take effect April 5, 2025, and the higher country-specific rates were scheduled for April 9. Those were effective dates specified in the April order and fact sheet; they are not a statement of current rates. April 2 White House fact sheet
Did “all countries” mean every import faced the same tariff?
No. “All countries” described the baseline structure for covered goods, not a promise that every product or country would face the same additional charge. The order and fact sheet included exceptions, and some goods were covered by separate tariff measures.
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The April 2 fact sheet listed exclusions including goods already subject to specified Section 232 tariffs, such as steel and aluminum and autos and auto parts; copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber; bullion; certain energy and minerals unavailable in the United States; and goods that could become subject to future Section 232 tariffs. The fact sheet also identified statutory exceptions. These exclusions describe the initial framework, not the treatment of every product under later policy.
Canada and Mexico had separate treatment
The initial materials said existing fentanyl- and migration-related orders for Canada and Mexico continued to apply. They also described different treatment for goods compliant and noncompliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). That historical distinction means the headline cannot be applied as a universal answer for a shipment from either country.
Why did the administration say it was imposing the tariffs?
The administration framed the tariffs as a response to what it characterized as a lack of reciprocity, foreign tariff and non-tariff barriers, and large, persistent U.S. goods trade deficits. The White House described the action as addressing a national emergency it attributed to those conditions. These are the administration’s stated rationale, not proof that the tariffs would reduce the deficit or produce a particular economic result.
Executive Order 14257 reported a U.S. goods trade deficit of $1.2 trillion in 2024 and said it had grown by more than 40% over the preceding five years. The order also asserted that manufacturing represented 11% of U.S. GDP, 35% of U.S. productivity growth, and 60% of exports, and attributed 55% of patents and 70% of research and development spending to manufacturing. Those figures are claims made in the order; they should be read with that attribution. Executive Order 14257
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What changed after the announcement?
The April 2 action was an initial policy, not a complete or permanent tariff schedule. The U.S. Trade Representative’s presidential tariff actions index records later actions and trade-agreement materials. For example, a September 5, 2025 White House fact sheet described changes to the reciprocal-tariff product scope and a framework for implementing trade deals, with the product-scope changes scheduled to take effect September 8, 2025. USTR presidential tariff actions index · September 5, 2025 White House fact sheet
A Congressional Research Service report published September 16, 2025 summarized developments only through that date and warned that details could change as bilateral deals were implemented or other policies changed. It reported that multiple federal courts had ruled the President exceeded authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in at least some tariff actions, while those tariffs remained in place pending Supreme Court review at the report’s publication date. That is a dated 2025 legal snapshot, not a description of the legal outcome in October 2026. Congressional Research Service report, September 16, 2025
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How can you find the tariff on a shipment now?
Do not use the April 2025 announcement—or a dated 2025 status summary—as a current duty lookup. The rate for a shipment depends on more than the country named in a headline. Before calculating an import cost, confirm:
- the product’s tariff classification;
- its country of origin, which may differ from the shipping country;
- whether a trade agreement applies;
- whether a product exclusion or other tariff authority covers it; and
- the official schedule and effective date that apply to the entry.
The available information here does not establish a complete country-by-country and product-by-product schedule as of October 8, 2026. Importers should verify the current official tariff schedule and applicable trade-agreement terms for the specific goods and date of entry. For a household budgeting a purchase, a news headline is not enough to determine whether a particular product’s price includes a tariff or how much it may change.
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