It’s been a roller coaster of a year for U.S. trade policy.
President Donald Trump launched a barrage of new tariffs in 2025, plunging the U.S. into trade wars with nearly every country in the world. Volley after volley of threats and steeper import taxes often arrived erratically — with Trump claiming that such levies needed to be immediately imposed to close trade imbalances and take back wealth that was “stolen” from the U.S.
But the president also turned to tariffs amid personal grudges or in response to political critics. And the whiplash of on-again, off-again duties — and responding retaliation — fueled widespread uncertainty for businesses and consumers alike, all while households continue to face rising prices.
Here’s a summary of how Trump’s biggest trade actions unfolded over the last year, broken down by key months.
January-March
In his first few months back in office, Trump focused his new tariffs on America’s three biggest trading partners: Canada, Mexico and China. On-again, off-again levies and responding retaliation began to bubble up.
Worldwide, the U.S. also heightened import taxes on steel and aluminum to 25% — expanding Trump’s previously imposed 2018 import taxes.
April
Trump’s trade wars escalated to new heights in April. The president unveiled sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs on almost every country in the world — sending the stock market tumbling. And more turbulence followed after he told investors that it’s a “great time to buy” mere hours before postponing dozens of steeper import taxes.
China was the exception. Washington and Beijing traded more and more sky-high, tit-for-tat levies — reaching 145% and 125%, respectively.
Separately, Trump’s 25% auto tariffs began, plunging the industry into uncertainty and bringing more retaliation from trading partners like Canada.
May-July
The Trump administration spent much of the summer boasting about trade “framework” deals with countries like China, the U.K. and Vietnam. But his administration sent letters to dozens of other nations promising that heightened levies are on the way — and notably escalated trade wars with Brazil and India.
Otherwise, Trump continued to expand sector-specific tariffs, hiking steel and aluminum taxes to a punishing 50%.
Meanwhile, a key legal challenge over Trump’s tariffs gained traction. A federal court blocked Trump from imposing some of his most sweeping levies under an emergency-powers law — but an appeals court temporarily halted the order, allowing tariff collections to continue as the case winds through court.
August
Heightened U.S. tariffs on more than 60 countries and the European Union kicked in. After several delays, most of the rates spanned from April’s “Liberation Day” — but separately, Trump hiked import taxes on Canada to 35%.
Punishing 50% levies on goods from Brazil and India also took effect, along with a new 50% rate on most imported copper worldwide. And low-value imports coming into the U.S. lost their duty-free status with the end of the “de minimis” rule.
Separately, the U.S. extended its trade truce with China. A U.S. appeals court ruled that Trump went too far when he declared national emergencies to justify his tariffs — but didn’t strike them down entirely, allowing the administration to take its case to the Supreme Court.
September-December
The Trump administration officially took its tariff fight to the Supreme Court. In initial oral arguments, the justices appeared skeptical about the president’s authority to impose such sweeping levies.
Meanwhile, Trump continued to promise more sectoral tariffs — and 25% levies on kitchen cabinets and other furniture take effect. But other threats got delayed. Amid rising price pressures, the president also lowered or scrapped a few previous tariffs, notably for goods like beef and fruit. He also suggested that Americans will receive a $2,000 dividend from new tariff revenue — but details remain very scarce.
