On April 9, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the tariff charged to China would rise to 125% and that other covered trading partners would receive a 90-day pause at a 10% reciprocal tariff rate. Those figures describe a historical announcement, not a dependable statement of tariffs in effect today: later orders changed the China measures, and a February 2026 order directed specified additional duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to end.
What Trump announced on April 9, 2025
In an official presidential statement recorded by GovInfo, Trump wrote, “I am hereby raising the tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125 percent, effective immediately.” He also wrote, “I have authorized a 90-day pause and a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff during this period of 10 percent, also effective immediately.” The word “immediately” described the timing stated in that April announcement; it does not establish the current treatment of imports.
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Trump said more than 75 countries had contacted U.S. representatives to negotiate and had not retaliated, and gave this as his reason for pausing the higher country-specific reciprocal rates on other partners. That number and explanation are what Trump stated, not an independent verification of the countries’ conduct.
Who the 90-day pause covered
Executive Order 14266 formalized the pause for covered trading partners listed in Annex I, other than China. During the pause, the order suspended those partners’ individual reciprocal tariff rates and substituted an additional 10% ad valorem reciprocal rate, subject to the order’s exceptions and other applicable rules. China was excluded from this pause.
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This did not mean that all duties disappeared or that every shipment from a covered country faced only one 10% charge. The April 2 reciprocal-tariff framework included a 10% baseline and higher rates for some countries, while identifying excluded product categories, including some goods subject to separate Section 232 measures. Other tariff authorities and product-specific exclusions could also affect a shipment.
How the policy changed after the announcement
| Date and action | What it did |
|---|---|
| April 2, 2025: White House reciprocal-tariff framework | Announced a 10% baseline, higher country-specific rates, exceptions, and authority to modify rates in response to retaliation or sufficient steps toward alignment. |
| April 9, 2025: Trump statement and Executive Order 14266 | Trump announced 125% for China and a 90-day pause at 10% for other covered partners. The order suspended the individual Annex I rates for covered partners other than China and applied the additional 10% reciprocal rate during the pause. |
| May 12, 2025 order, effective May 14 | The United States and China moved to a temporary de-escalation. The order set an additional 10% reciprocal rate for China for an initial 90-day period, suspended 24 percentage points of the prior reciprocal rate, and removed the modified additional rates imposed by the April 8 and April 9 orders. |
| August 2025 extension | The suspension was extended to November 10, 2025. |
| November 2025: Executive Order 14358 | Continued the suspension of heightened reciprocal tariffs on China until 12:01 a.m. EST on November 10, 2026. |
| February 20, 2026: Executive Order 14389 | Directed that specified additional ad valorem duties imposed under IEEPA, including duties under the reciprocal-tariff order, no longer be in effect and that agencies end collection as soon as practicable. It preserved duties imposed under other authorities, including Section 232 and Section 301. |
The February 2026 action came before the November 2026 date in Executive Order 14358 and changed the status of specified IEEPA duties. The sequence matters: the April 2025 announcement and the later temporary rates are not a substitute for checking the applicable orders and current implementation.
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Why “125%” does not tell you the duty on a shipment
The 125% figure was Trump’s stated China tariff rate in his April 9 announcement. It should not be read as a complete customs calculation for every product from China, or as a current universal rate. Tariff treatment can depend on the product’s country of origin, tariff classification, applicable exclusions, and which tariff authorities apply. Duties under authorities such as Section 232 or Section 301 are distinct from the specified IEEPA duties addressed in the February 2026 order.
For a real import, the headline alone cannot determine the amount due or the landed cost. The policy actions summarized here do not establish a specific shipment’s customs liability; that requires applying the current rules to the particular product and origin.
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What later U.S.-China developments do—and do not—show
In a May 2026 release, the Office of the United States Trade Representative reported on a later U.S.-China summit and described trade commitments and outcomes. Those statements are USTR’s reported account; they do not, by themselves, establish a tariff rate applicable to a particular import. For the sequence of presidential tariff actions, USTR’s official index is a useful starting point, alongside the relevant executive orders and current agency implementation.
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