The United States Announces Reciprocal Tariffs

Dear Valued Customer,

On February 13, 2025, the White House released an Executive Order (EO) announcing a “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” (plan) on trade to reduce the annual trade deficit and restore fairness and balance to U.S. trade relationships.

Below are key focus areas of the plan, as specifically outlined within the EO:

• Tariffs imposed on United States products.
• Unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes imposed by our trading partners on United States businesses, workers, and consumers, including a value-added tax.
• Costs to United States businesses, workers and consumers arising from nontariff barriers or measures and unfair or harmful acts, policies, or practices, including subsidies, and burdensome regulatory requirements on United States businesses operating in other countries.
• Policies and practices that cause exchange rates to deviate from their market value, to the detriment of Americans; wage suppression; and other mercantilist policies that make United States businesses and workers less competitive; and 
• Any other practice that, in the judgement of the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing, imposes any unfair limitation on market access or any structural impediment to fair competition with the market economy of the United States.

These areas are aligned with the America First Trade Policy EO that was issued by the White House on January 20, 2025.  Specified agency reports from the America First Trade Policy are due to the President by April 1, 2025.

The Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs memo will require report of “proposed remedies in pursuit of reciprocal trade relations with each trading partner”. Additionally, the Office of Management and Budget will assess all fiscal impacts on the Federal Government and impacts of information collection requests on the public.  The assessment is due within 180 days.

Resources:

• Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on Trade – The White House
• Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs – The White House
• Federal Register: America First Trade Policy

Thank you for being a Valued Customer.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your C. H. Robinson commercial representative for further information.

Sincerely,

C. H. Robinson