Trump Tariffs Explained: Trade Policy, Maritime Measures and Shipping Impacts

9 October 2025 Windward 

An Overview of Trump’s Tariff Measures

Liberation Day tariffs: On April 2, 2025, the administration launched a sweeping regime of “reciprocal” tariffs. According to the Financial Times’ Trump tracker, as of September 4, these duties raised the effective tariff rate to around 16% based on announced policy. This is nearly ten times higher than the pre‑Trump level and pushed actual tariff receipts well above $10 bn per month. The new tariffs particularly targeted imports from China, the EU, India, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. While some partners subsequently negotiated deals (UK, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan), the U.S. overall tariff rate remains near Depression‑era highs.

Tariffs on steel and other goods: President Trump signed a proclamation on June 3 that increased the section 232 duty on steel to 50% from 25% on all countries including allies. The EU had earlier imposed a 25% duty on steel to counter Trump’s 2019 tariffs, but it had been relaxed. A 50% tariff on a range of semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivative goods such as copper pipes, wires, rods, sheets was imposed on August 1. In September President Trump said in a social media post that he would raise tariffs on heavy trucks to 25%, 50% on cabinets, and 30% on furniture under national security provisions. These three sectors are currently subject to investigation as required under Section 232. The U.S. has also said that “derivative” steel products could be subject to tariffs such as wind turbines, windows and doors with some metal.

Tariffs on Brazil and Mexico: None for Russia: Washington applied a 50 % tariff on many Brazilian goods in July 2025, citing alleged anti‑American actions by the Lula government. Mexico, under U.S. pressure, proposed 50 % tariffs on Chinese cars and 1,400 other products to curb Chinese trade and avoid secondary U.S. tariffs. Trump has also urged G7 countries to adopt secondary tariffs on China and India for purchasing Russian oil. Brussels responded by indicating it was planning tariffs on Russian oil sold to Hungary and Slovakia but these provisions have yet to be formally approved and may not be implemented. Russia was excluded from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

Tariffs on Indian goods: Trump raised duties on Indian exports to 50% in August citing trade barriers and India’s continued buying of Russian oil. The Financial Times notes that only around 2% of India’s GDP depends on U.S. demand, and many exports (electronics and pharmaceuticals) remain exempt, producing an effective tariff rate of 33%–36%. Economists estimate the new tariffs might shave 0.6–0.8 percentage points from India’s growth

China tariffs: U.S.-China tariffs are complex and increasingly changing with overlapping measures. Reciprocal and product-specific tariffs make it difficult to determine which duties apply. Currently, there is a 20% tariff on fentanyl and a temporary 10% reciprocal tariff. In August, President Trump announced another 90-day pause on Chinese tariffs, extending into early November. Without this extension, U.S. duties on Chinese goods would have risen to 145%.

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