2025 Tariff Developments

Due to the fluidity of the situation regarding tariffs, The Vision Council will be posting frequent updates on this website for your information and convenience. 

We encourage you to bookmark and revisit this page regularly for the latest updates impacting the industry.

For Members

Tariff Dashboard - Use our simulator to model the financial impact of tariffs on your imports. 

Industry Resources - Access materials that explain country-specific duties on optical products and review archived webinar recordings. 

Historical Information on China 301 Duties - Review older information on China 301 Duties.

Contact 

For questions or media inquiries related to tariffs, please contact: 

Omar Elkhatib 
Senior Manager of Government Relations 
oelkhatib@thevisioncouncil.org 

Rick Van Arnam 
Regulatory Affairs Counsel 
rvanarnam@barnesrichardson.com

Latest Information

April 10, 2025 

The White House issued a “clarification” and updated the previously reported 125% reciprocal tariffs to include what The Vision Council has referred to as the China 2025 or IEEPA Tariffs, which are 20%. Media outlets are now reporting total reciprocal tariffs for China as 145%.

April 9, 2025

On April 9, 2025, President Trump announced a 90-day pause to the previously imposed “reciprocal” tariffs for non-retaliating countries, and lowered the reciprocal tariffs set to increase on April 9 to 10% on all countries, with the exception of China. China’s reciprocal duty rate has been increased to 125%. 

April 5, 2025

On April 5, all goods regardless of country of origin entered into the U.S. after 12:01 a.m. EDT are now subject to a 10 percent “reciprocal” tariff, which is in addition to any regular tariff or special tariff currently assessed on the product. 

Goods imported from a country listed on Annex I that are entered into the U.S. after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 9 will graduate from the 10 percent rate to a higher specific country reciprocal rate outlined here.

April 3, 2025

On April 2, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) imposing global reciprocal tariffs on all imports into the United States. ​

  • All goods regardless of country of origin entered into the U.S. after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5 will be subject to a 10 percent “reciprocal” tariff ​
  • This is in addition to any regular tariff or other special tariff currently being assessed on the product, unless excluded as discussed below​

Goods imported from a country listed on Annex I to the EO that are entered into the U.S. after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 9 will graduate from the 10 percent rate to the higher specific country reciprocal rate set out on Annex I.

March 24, 2025

On March 24, President Trump issued an Executive Order imposing tariffs on countries importing Venezuelan oil or gas beginning on or after April 2, 2025. 

According to the executive order, the 25 percent tariffs can be imposed on all goods imported into the United States from any country that imports Venezuelan oil, whether directly from Venezuela or indirectly through third parties. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will have the “discretion” to impose the tariffs, if determined by the Department of Commerce that a country is importing Venezuelan oil. This would be in addition to any other tariffs imposed under IEEPA, Section 232, Section 301 and regular duties. 

China has been Venezuela’s largest oil buyer. Next in line are the United States, India, Columbia, Brazil, European countries, and many more. Thus, members of The Vision Council involved in trade from these countries, especially China, may likely see an additional 25 percent duty tacked onto their current duty bill.

March 12, 2025

On March 12, the full 25 percent tariff on steel imports and the increased 25 percent tariff on aluminum imports will take effect, ending existing exemptions for certain countries. President Donald Trump signed the proclamations reinstating these tariffs on Monday, February 10. The EU is preparing to respond to the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum by imposing retaliatory duties. They have released a list of proposed target products, which includes steel, aluminum, and other industrial goods. Notably, contact lenses are among the items listed. The earliest these retaliatory duties could take effect is April 1, with additional measures expected by mid-April.

March 6, 2025

A delay on tariffs has been granted to Mexico and Canada for goods that fall under the USMCA trade pact. Delays will be effective as of March 7. Products that originate in Mexico or Canada but which do not fall under the USMCA pact are subject to the 25% tariff and do not benefit from the delay.

March 4, 2025

Following through on the executive orders President Trump signed on February 1, beginning on March 4, 2025, the United States will start assessing additional tariffs on: 

  1. All goods from Mexico by 25 percent
  2. All goods from Canada by 25 percent except “energy or energy resources” (i.e.: crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals), which will be increased by 10 percent
  3. Chinese origin goods; increasing the duty from 10 percent to 20 percent

February 27, 2025

Overnight, President Trump renewed his threats to impose a 25% tariff on products that originate in Mexico and Canada beginning on March 4, 2025. This threat was originally made in early February but implementation was delayed by 30 days because Mexico and Canada agreed to take preventative measures to mitigate drug trafficking and illegal immigration. That 30-day period, however, will expire on March 4. 

President Trump is also proposing additional tariff action against China. In his overnight post, he stated that on March 4 an additional 10% tariff will be added to goods of Chinese origin. This will be on top of the 10% China tariff implemented on February 4, 2025, and it will also be on top of any additional tariff currently being assessed on Chinese origin merchandise pursuant to the “China 301” duties assessed during the first Trump presidency and any regular tariff being assessed on the specific product (which varies depending on the product being imported).

February 11, 2025

On Monday, February 10, President Donald Trump signed proclamations reinstating the full 25 percent tariff on steel imports and increasing tariffs on aluminum imports to 25 percent, ending existing exemptions afforded to certain countries. The tariffs will go into effect March 12, a White House official said. Additionally, President Trump also stated he would reveal "reciprocal tariffs" on Tuesday or Wednesday, which he claimed would take effect right away. This means the U.S. would impose import taxes on goods from countries that have already imposed duties on American products.

February 4, 2025

President Donald Trump has agreed to pause on imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, after speaking to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who agreed to reinforce their country's borders with the U.S. to reduce migration and the flow of fentanyl.

February 3, 2025

On Monday February 3, President Donald Trump agreed to a 30-day suspension of his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, as both countries took steps to address his concerns about border security and drug trafficking.

February 1, 2025

The Vision Council’s Government and Regulatory Affairs would like to draw your attention to updates regarding the possibility of increased tariffs that have been previously mentioned.

Consistent with his campaign pledges, President Trump signed three executive orders on February 1, 2025, raising tariffs on:

  1. All goods from Mexico by 25%*
  2. All goods from Canada by 25% except “energy or energy resources” which will be increased by 10%
    1. (i.e. crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals)*
  3. All goods from China by 10%

*As of February 4, 2025, President Trump has paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month as he and foreign leadership continue negotiations. Tariffs on goods from China are still on scheduled to go into effect Tuesday.

In each case, the rates of duties established by the three executive orders are in addition to other duties, fees or exactions currently assessed against such imported products.

The new rates of duties are scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on February 4, 2025. Goods in transit, if having been loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading or in transit on the final mode of transport prior to 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on February 1, 2025, are not subject to the increases.

President Trump exercised his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act (NEA), citing the influx of undocumented migrants, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and other drugs as justification for the national emergencies upon which the executive orders are based.

The executive orders cover all products determined to originate in Mexico, Canada or China. This includes all products that otherwise would be duty-free because they qualify under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). These goods will now be subject to a minimum 25% tariff. Also, because the new 10% tariffs on Chinese-origin goods are based on the IEEPA, those tariff numbers that were carved out of, and never subject to, the original China 301 duties, would now be subject to the new 10% duties. No exclusion process was set out in the orders.

Drawback will not be allowed with respect to the duties imposed by the executive orders. This means that businesses will not be able to claim refunds on the extra tariffs they paid when importing goods, even if they later export those goods to another country. As a result, they will incur the full cost of these tariffs without any opportunity to recover the money.

The executive orders contain clauses stating that the President could increase or expand the scope of the duties imposed under the executive orders if Canada, Mexico or China were to retaliate. And retaliation has already been announced. Canada has stated it will roll out a 25% tariff as early as February 4, 2025, for certain items, and then for many more within 21 days. The products initially targeted include U.S. origin beer, liquors and wine, fruit and fruit juices, clothing, sporting equipment and household appliances. Mexico has stated it will retaliate as well, but as of the time of this writing no specific rates of duty, scope of items or timetable for imposition have been announced by the government in Mexico.

The Vision Council will keep its members up to date on this very fluid situation. If you have any questions about this alert or the topic, please contact Omar Elkhatib, The Vision Council’s Senior Manager of Government Relations, at oelkhatib@thevisioncouncil.org, or Rick Van Arnam, The Vision Council’s Regulatory Affairs Counsel, at rvanarnam@barnesrichardson.com.