Trump’s “Liberation Day” was April 2, 2025—not a date nine days away. The reciprocal tariffs announced then were later challenged in court: on February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, and Executive Order 14389 directed that the IEEPA duties covered by the order, including those from the Liberation Day tariff order, cease to be in effect. A separate, temporary tariff surcharge was announced under a different law. Those events do not establish the rate due on any particular import today.
What were the reciprocal tariffs?
“Reciprocal tariffs” was the name used for the additional import duties announced in Executive Order 14257 on April 2, 2025, which the White House called “Liberation Day.” The order invoked IEEPA, a law that grants the president certain powers during a declared national emergency. These were additional duties—not a replacement for every other U.S. tariff.
The title’s countdown is therefore historical, not current: the White House’s April 2, 2026 retrospective marked one year since Liberation Day. As of October 4, 2026, the announcement was more than a year old.
Are Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs still in effect?
The Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. In its opinion in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the Court wrote: “Nor are we persuaded that the dots connect from our wartime precedents, through multiple iterations of TWEA, to IEEPA, such that IEEPA should be interpreted to grant the President an expansive peacetime tariff power.”
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That same day, Executive Order 14389 directed that the additional duties imposed under IEEPA through several listed orders—including the April 2, 2025 reciprocal-tariff order—should no longer be in effect and, as soon as practicable, should no longer be collected. The order did not end all U.S. tariffs: it expressly left other duties, including those imposed under Sections 232 and 301, unaffected.
How the February 2026 measures differed
The February 20 court decision and executive order addressed IEEPA duties. Separately, a presidential proclamation invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to announce a temporary surcharge. The measures had different legal authorities and terms:
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| Measure | Authority and date | What the cited action established |
|---|---|---|
| Reciprocal tariffs | Executive Order 14257; announced April 2, 2025, under IEEPA | Executive Order 14389, dated February 20, 2026, directed that the covered IEEPA duties, including these, no longer be in effect and should stop being collected as soon as practicable. It did not affect duties under Sections 232 and 301. |
| Temporary surcharge | Presidential proclamation dated February 20, 2026, under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 | The proclamation announced a 10 percent ad valorem surcharge on covered imports, effective February 24, 2026, for 150 days. It specified exceptions and said the surcharge would not stack on portions of an import covered by Section 232 tariffs. Its original terms do not establish whether a later action changed the rules after that period. |
| Other duties | Examples named in Executive Order 14389 include duties under Sections 232 and 301 | These were not ended by Executive Order 14389. The order does not state an importer-specific rate for them. |
The proclamation’s 150-day term describes the period announced in February 2026; it is not evidence of the tariff rules in force after that period. A later action or customs implementation could affect the current treatment of an import, and the cited proclamation alone does not establish whether that happened.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this means for shoppers and importers
The court ruling and the orders changed the legal basis for some tariffs, but they do not give every shopper or business a single current rate to apply. The amount due on a specific import depends on the rules applicable to that shipment, including its product classification, country of origin, entry date, and any relevant exclusions or other duties. The cited actions do not establish the current tariff owed on a particular item.
For consumers, a tariff announcement is not itself proof that a particular product’s retail price rose by a given amount. The White House’s April 2, 2026 retrospective said the U.S. goods trade deficit fell 24 percent from April 2025 through February 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. That is an administration-reported comparison; it does not establish that tariffs caused the change or show how much any consumer paid for a specific product.
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How to check a tariff on a specific import
- Identify the shipment. Confirm the product’s tariff classification, country of origin, and date of entry. A product’s brand or country of dispatch alone may not answer all of those questions.
- Check the rules in force for that entry date. Review current official tariff and customs instructions rather than relying on the April 2025 announcement or the February 2026 proclamation’s original duration.
- Check for separate duties and exceptions. Determine whether Section 232, Section 301, or another applicable measure affects the item, and whether an exclusion applies. Do not assume the Section 122 surcharge stacked on a portion covered by Section 232; the proclamation said it did not.
- Confirm the amount with the responsible customs professional or broker. If you are an importer, verify how the applicable classification, origin, entry date, and current instructions affect the entry before treating a headline rate as your landed cost.
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