Trump’s tariff trade war: A brief timelinepublished at 11:14 Greenwich Mean Time 12 March
The US president once described tariffs as the ‘most beautiful word in the dictionary’
25 November 2024: Donald Trump says one of his first executive orders in office will be to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products entering the US. He says this will remain in place until fentanyl and “illegal aliens” are stopped from entering the US.
1 February 2025: The US president follows through on his promise, implementing 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, as well as a 10% tax on China, saying these will become effective on 4 February.
4 February 2025: Trump backtracks, and agrees to hold off imposing the Canadian and Mexican tariffs for 30 days after last-minute calls with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
5 March 2025: Tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China take effect from 00:01, and Canada and China respond with retaliatory tariffs – Mexico says it will respond soon.
6 March 2025: A day later, Trump grants Mexico a temporary reprieve on tariffs – until 2 April. Later that day, Canada is given the same suspension deal – though some goods from both countries will still be subject to levies.
11 March 2025: Donald Trump responds to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threats to tax electricity exports to the US by doubling planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to 50%. The US president later reverts this measure back to 25% and Ford’s own threat is suspended.
12 March 2025: A 25% duty on all steel and aluminium imports into the US takes effect – impacting all of the US’s trade partners including the EU, which reacts with €26bn (£21.9bn, $28.3bn) worth of counter-measures.