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EO 14266: 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs; China rate raised to 125%

9 April 2025 · written 8 June 2026

On 9 April 2025 President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14266, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates To Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment.”1 The order suspends for 90 days the country-specific Annex I reciprocal rates that had taken effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 9 April under Executive Order 14257 (2 April 2025), as amended; in place of those rates, non-China partners face the 10 per cent baseline already in force since 5 April 2025.2 Section 2 raises the China rate at HTSUS subheading 9903.01.63 from 84 per cent (set by Executive Order 14259 of 8 April 2025) to 125 per cent, effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on 10 April 2025; in combination with the 20 per cent IEEPA fentanyl duty under EO 14195 (as amended), the cumulative ad valorem rate on covered Chinese-origin goods reaches 145 per cent.34 Section 4 of EO 14266 also raises the postal-channel low-value duty applicable to covered articles from China and Hong Kong under EO 14256 from 90 per cent (or specified per-item rate) to 120 per cent.5 The order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. § 1702(a)(1)(B)), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.), § 604 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2483) and 3 U.S.C. § 301.678 President Trump announced the action on Truth Social: “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” and “I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately.”9 U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued CSMS message 64701128 the next day implementing the new rates.10

  1. EO 14266 is an amending order: the IEEPA authority and the national-emergency declaration in EO 14257 (per 50 U.S.C. § 1622) remain in force, and the country-specific Annex I rates can be reinstated by a further amending order. The 90-day suspension at HTSUS subheadings 9903.01.43–9903.01.62 and 9903.01.64–9903.01.76 expires at 12:01 a.m. EDT on 9 July 2025 absent further presidential action.111

  2. The exclusion of China from the pause separates the IEEPA tariff dispute with Beijing from bilateral channels opened with other partners. China’s State Council Tariff Commission had earlier on 9 April 2025 announced an increase in the retaliatory duty on US-origin goods from 34 per cent to 84 per cent, effective 10 April 2025; the 84 per cent retaliatory rate prompted EO 14266 § 2’s 125 per cent reciprocal.12

  3. Importers of non-China partners face the 10 per cent baseline through the 90-day window, with the carve-outs listed in Annex II of EO 14257 (steel, aluminium and autos under § 232; pharmaceuticals; semiconductors; lumber; copper; bullion; and energy and certain critical minerals not available in the United States). The CBP implementing notice operationalises the rate change on entry under HTSUS Chapter 99 subchapter III subheading 9903.01.25 (10 per cent continuation) and the suspended subheadings.210

Footnotes

  1. Executive Order 14266, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates To Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment,” 90 Fed. Reg. 15625 (Apr. 15, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-06462). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/15/2025-06462/modifying-reciprocal-tariff-rates-to-reflect-trading-partner-retaliation-and-alignment ↩ ↩2

  2. Executive Order 14257, “Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits,” 90 Fed. Reg. 15041 (Apr. 7, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-06063). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06063/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-to-rectify-trade-practices-that-contribute-to-large-and ↩ ↩2

  3. Executive Order 14259, “Amendment to Reciprocal Tariffs and Updated Duties as Applied to Low-Value Imports From the People’s Republic of China,” signed 8 April 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/14/2025-06378/amendment-to-reciprocal-tariffs-and-updated-duties-as-applied-to-low-value-imports-from-the-peoples ↩

  4. Executive Order 14195, “Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China,” 90 Fed. Reg. 9121 (Feb. 7, 2025) (FR Doc. 2025-02408). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/07/2025-02408/imposing-duties-to-address-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china ↩

  5. Executive Order 14256, “Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China as Applied to Low-Value Imports,” signed 2 April 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06064/further-amendment-to-duties-addressing-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of ↩

  6. International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1702(a)(1)(B). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section1702&edition=prelim ↩

  7. National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1621. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section1621&edition=prelim ↩

  8. § 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. § 2483. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title19-section2483&edition=prelim ↩

  9. @realDonaldTrump, Truth Social posts of 9 April 2025 (announcing the 90-day pause, the 10 per cent baseline and the 125 per cent China rate). ↩

  10. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CSMS # 64701128, “UPDATED GUIDANCE — Reciprocal Tariffs — Increase in Rate for China and Reversion of Other Country-Specific Rates, Effective April 10, 2025,” 10 April 2025. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCBP/bulletins/3db42c8 ↩ ↩2

  11. National Emergencies Act § 202, 50 U.S.C. § 1622 (termination of national emergency). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section1622&edition=prelim ↩

  12. State Council Tariff Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Announcement No. 5 of 2025, 9 April 2025 (raising additional ad valorem rate on US-origin goods from 34 per cent to 84 per cent, effective 10 April 2025). ↩

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