Trade and Retaliatory Tariffs
Timeline Of A Trade War
The trade war, all on one page.
If you’re looking for a one-stop shop to understand the trade and tariffs tiff, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s where you can find and understand the trade saga, represented in three ways:
- Plain old fashioned listicle – More details, and for those of us who want to see just the words.
- Downloadable, growing spreadsheet of raw data. The spreadsheet is useful if you’d like to do a deep dive. Product descriptions and classifications are entered as reported the countries affected (with minimal clean-up on our end). The spreadsheet includes all U.S. tariffs announced through December 15, 2019. Primary source documents for the lists are included in the “notes and index” sheet of the spreadsheet. [Note: Product descriptions are not always descriptive, especially for aluminum and steel. To understand exactly what types of products are subject to increased tariff taxes, see the searchable Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS) here. An explanation of what American trade products are now subject to increased tariffs, and a searchable customs codes and classifications can be found here.]
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The Trade & Tariff Timeline Listicle
The list of proposed products can be found here (tariff on Chinese exports to U.S. worth $34 billion), here (tariff on Chinese exports to U.S. worth $16 billion), here (tariff on Chinese exports to U.S. worth $200 billion), and here (tariff on Chinese exports to U.S. worth $300 billion). An explanation of what products are represented by customs codes and classifications can be found here. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) can be found here.
A timeline of major events is below:
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- March 23, 2018 – US imposes 25 and 10 percent tariff on steel and aluminum products from China citing authority under Section 232
- April 2, 2018 – China imposes 15 to 25 percent tariffs on US exports worth $3 billion
- May 23, 2018 – Secretary of Commerce initiates investigation to determine the effects of imports of automobiles and automotive parts on national security.
- June 1, 2018 – US imposes 25 and 10 percent tariff on steel and aluminum products on all countries. Exempted countries are Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea
- June 5, 2018 – Mexico imposes 7 to 25 percent tariffs on US exports worth $3.6 billion
- June 21, 2018 – Turkey imposes 4 to 70 percent tariffs on US exports worth $1.8 billion
- June 21, 2018 – India imposes 5 to 100 percent tariffs on US goods worth $10.6 billion
- June 22, 2018 – European Union imposes 10 to 25 percent tariffs on US exports worth $3.2 billion
- July 1, 2018 – Canada imposed 10 to 25 percent tariffs on US exports worth $12.7 billion
- July 6, 2018 – US imposes 25 percent tariff on Chinese exported goods worth $34 billion
- July 6, 2018 – China responds by imposing 25 percent tariff on US exported goods worth $34 billion
- July 11, 2018 – Office of the US Trade Representative proposes a 10 percent tariff on additional Chinese exports worth $200 billion
- July 11, 2018 – Motion to Instruct providing a role for Congress in making a determination under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 passed the Senate 88-11.
- July 16, 2018 – United States Challenges Five WTO Members Imposing Illegal Tariffs Against U.S. Products
- July 18, 2018 – House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade Hearing on the Effects of Tariffs on U.S. Agriculture and Rural Communities
- July 24, 2018 – President Trump announced trade aid for farmersJuly 24, 2018 – Trump, Juncker voice desire to reduce tariffs, trade tensions (EU proposed additional $20 billion in tariffs for US exports)
- July 24, 2018 – Trump, Juncker voice desire to reduce tariffs, trade tensions (EU proposed additional $20 billion in tariffs for US exports)
- July 25, 2018 – Trump, E.U. announce deal to avert escalation of trade tensions
- August 2, 2018 – U.S. threatens to impose tariffs of 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
- August 3, 2018 – China responds with threat to impose tariffs of 5 to 25 percent on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods.
- August 7, 2018 – USTR finalizes list of $16 billion worth of goods in China subject to 25 percent tariff on August 23.
- August 8, 2018 – China responds with an updated list of $16 billion worth of products subject to 25 percent tariff on August 23.
- August 10, 2018 – U.S. threatens to impose a 50 percent tariff on steel and 20 percent tariff on aluminum from Turkey.
- August 14, 2018 – Turkey responds by raising tariffs originally announced on June 21.
- August 20, 2018 – USTR holds public hearings on proposed $200 billion worth of goods from China.
- August 23, 2018 – U.S. imposes tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods, including dirt bikes and sawing machines for working stone.
- August 23, 2018 – China responds by imposing tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of U.S. goods, including liquefied propane and vaseline.
- August 27, 2018 – USDA announces it will spend $6.1 billion out of a promised $12 billion in cash subsidies and government purchases of crops from ag businesses harmed by tariffs starting Sept 4.
- September 17, 2018 – U.S. announces tariffs of 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods starting on September 24. Tariffs will be raised to 25 percent on January 1, 2019.
- September 18, 2018 – China responds by announcing tariffs of 5 and 10 percent on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods starting on September 24.
- October 29, 2018 – USDA announces second round of payments to agricultural producers affected by tariffs.
- December 1, 2018 – The United States agrees to not raise tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods initially planned for January 1, 2019 in response to China agreeing to purchase more agricultural, energy, industrial, and other products from the U.S.
- December 17, 2018 – USDA launches second round of trade mitigation payments to agricultural producers
- February 17, 2019- US Commerce Department submits auto tariff probe report to White House
- April 8, 2019 – USTR Proposes Products for Tariff Countermeasures in Response to Harm Caused by EU Aircraft Subsidies
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- April 9, 2019 – Canada considers new retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products
- May 5, 2019 – Chinese delegation will come to the US for trade talks after Trump tariff threat
- May 10, 2019 – United States increases tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent.
- May 13, 2019- China retaliates by raising tariffs on U.S. products.
- May 17, 2019 – President Trump delays decision to impose tariffs on imported autos by six months to reach deal with EU and Japan
- May 17, 2019 – U.S. Poised to Remove Steel, Aluminum Tariffs on Canada, Mexico
- May 23, 2019 – USDA announces additional $16 billion to agricultural producers affected by the trade war
- May 30, 2019 – President Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Mexico to address immigration
- June 17, 2019 – USTR holds week long public hearing on proposed tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese products
- July 25, 2019 – USDA announces details of $16 billion to ag producers
- August 1, 2019 – Trump announces 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of imports from China starting September 1, 2019
- August 13, 2019 – USTR announces final list of goods to be tariffed on September 1, 2019 and December 15, 2019
- August 23, 2019 – China imposes tariffs on $75 billion worth of goods from the U.S. on September 1, 2019 and December 15, 2019.
- August 23, 2019 – In response to China imposing tariffs on $75 billion worth of goods from the U.S., the USTR announced an additional 5 percent tariff on $550 billion worth of goods imported from China.
- October 11, 2019 – President Trump delays raising tariffs set for October 15 after deal with China to buy more agricultural products and strengthen protections for intellectual property.
- December 2, 2019 – U.S. imposing tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Argentina and Brazil.
- December 15, 2019 –U.S. does not impose additional tariffs on products from China scheduled for December 15 in response to phase one trade deal.
- January 15, 2020 – U.S. and China sign phase one trade deal.
- January 29, 2020 – President Trump signs NAFTA 2.0 into law.
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This is a downloadable Excel spreadsheet of the growing list of tariffs. (Last updated December 16, 2019.) The spreadsheet will download to your device.
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