In the fall of 2024: Donald Trump wins the presidential post in the USA again. During the campaign, he promises to impose punitive tariffs on several countries.
January 20, 2025: Trump says, when he has been installed as the President of the USA for the second time, that he will introduce tariffs of 25 percent on all goods from neighboring countries Mexico and Canada and 10-percent tariffs on China.
February 1, 2025: Trump presents, starting on February 4, tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China. Two days later, the Mexican and Canadian tariffs are raised by a month since both countries have met Trump halfway on other issues.
February 10: Trump introduces 25-percent steel and aluminum tariffs.
February 13: Trump announces that further tariffs are to be expected in April, against, among others, India and the EU.
March 4: Trump's tariffs against Canada and Mexico are introduced, while the tariffs against China are raised to 20 percent. In the following days, certain exemptions are introduced for the tariffs against Mexico and Canada for goods that meet the conditions of having a sufficient percentage of American origin, in line with the free trade agreement USMCA.
March 10: China's 15-percent retaliatory tariffs on agricultural products from the USA come into effect.
March 13: Trump threatens with 200-percent tariffs on wine and spirits from Europe if the EU's threat of 50-percent tariffs on whiskey from the USA becomes a reality.
March 26: Trump announces upcoming 25-percent tariffs on imported cars and car parts.
April 2: Trump declares a "liberation day" – and flags tariffs of at least 10 percent on goods from around 180 countries. A large number of countries will, however, receive additional tariffs on top of this, which for EU countries means 20-percent tariffs. The tariffs for China will be 34 percent. World leaders and many economists condemn the decision, and stock markets plummet.
April 3: Trump's announced 25-percent tariffs on all car imports are introduced, and he flags the same tariff rate for car parts from May 3.
April 7: Trump escalates the trade conflict with China and raises the tariffs to a total of 104 percent. Beijing calls Trump's message "a mistake on top of a mistake".
April 8-9: The tariffs of 10 percent against 180 countries announced on April 2 are introduced. However, the additional tariffs on top of this against nearly 60 countries – including the EU – are paused for 90 days after warnings from heavyweights on Wall Street and large market fluctuations. This does not apply to China, which instead receives a further increase in tariffs to 145 percent, in response to China raising tariffs on goods from the USA to 84 percent.
The already introduced 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars are not affected by the tariff pause.
April 10: Global stock markets recover some of the losses after Trump's decision on a pause on additional tariffs on 60 countries. However, the stock market upswing slows down towards the end of the trading day. The EU pauses its retaliatory tariffs on the USA's steel and car tariffs for 90 days.
April 11: China announces a decision to raise tariffs on goods from the USA to 125 percent, up from 84 percent, starting on April 12. Beijing believes it is time to stop the "number game" and says: "If the USA continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the USA, China will ignore them".
