Reciprocal Tariffs Under Review

Such an approach could mean a different rate of duty for each country. According to the Office of the United Stated Trade Representative (USTR) website, the U.S. has trade relations with more than 200 countries, territories, and regional associations around the globe. To determine a tariff rate for each country will take time. Administratively, the Department of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will need time to prepare the HTSUS and system programming to accommodate the necessary changes.

Timeline
The effective date is not known, but it won’t be immediate. The America First Trade Policy memorandum instructed the heads of multiple departments to issue reports by April 1, 2025 regarding various aspects of trade and tariff analysis. The February 13, 2025 memorandum instructs these departments that upon completion of those reports, they shall submit a report detailing proposed remedies in pursuit of reciprocal trade relations. Within 180 days from February 13, 2025, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall assess all fiscal impacts on the Federal Government and the impacts of any information collection requests on the public.

Rate Review
The investigation to establish a rate for each country will take a multi-faceted approach, to include consideration of the following:

• Tariffs imposed on U.S. products
• Unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes, such as value-added taxes
• Costs arising from nontariff barriers
• Policies and practices that cause exchange rates to deviate from their market value, to the detriment of Americans
• Wage suppression
• Other mercantilist polices that make U.S. businesses and workers less competitive
• Any other practice that imposes unfair limitation on market access or any structural impediment to fair competition with the market economy of the U.S.

We will share updates as they become available. Please reach out to your Schenker contact with any questions.