April 2 was marked by the launch of a large-scale tariff wave on imports to the United States. Trump's measures have been labeled “Liberation Day” and are intended to reduce the dependence of U.S. industries on imports.
Let's take a look at the details of the implemented tariffs, insights on their actual meaning, and risks and strategies to overcome the strong volatility for shippers and carriers in various industries. Let's find out the real consequences, threats, and methods to deal with the current challenges of the global economy and logistics together with SeaRates review.
Overview of Trump's tariffs, April 2, 2025
Enacted US tariffs:
- 10% baseline import duty on all goods brought into the US
- 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles
- 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports (as temporary exemptions expired)
- 34% tariff on Chinese imports
- 20% tariff on goods imported from EU nations
- 46% tariff on Vietnamese imports
- 32% tariff on Taiwanese imports
- 24% tariff on Japanese imports
- 25% tariff on South Korean imports
- 36% tariff on Thai imports
- 31% tariff on Swiss imports
- 32% tariff on Indonesian imports
- 24% tariff on Malaysian imports
- 49% tariff on Cambodian imports
- 10% tariff on imports from the United Kingdom
- 30% tariff on South African imports
Proposed US tariffs: What to expect?
- 25% on countries importing Venezuelan oil (already announced)
- Digital Service Taxes (DSTs)
- Copper
- Timber and lumber
Impact for logisticians: What to solve right now?
1. HS & HTS codes conflict: What has changed on April 2?
This customs wave causes reciprocal tariffs to be applied according to the countries of origin of imported goods.
- New duties on goods from Canada, Mexico, the EU, and China up to 34%;
- Revision of HS (internationally accepted) classification codes to comply with HTS (USA-specific) based on new tariff rates;
- Since April 1, the EU customs system ICS2 has tightened the rules for filing ENS declarations for all imports from non-EU countries.
The result:
- 18,000+ commodity items (HS codes) may now face conflicting tariff designations or reclassification needs in different jurisdictions.
- Such a large-scale change and conflicts between HS and HTS codes caused delays in updating the databases, resulting in cargo entry rejections, shipment delays, manual clearance delays, and requests for additional confirmation documentation.
2. Compliance errors (EDI, Docs, & Audits)
EDI is the Electronic Data Interchange for LSPs to send shipments to customs, including bills of lading, invoices, import summaries, and classification data.
Currently, it is necessary to simultaneously comply with both EU ICS2 enforcement and US tariff rules defined by IEEPA. The automated EDI channels that were previously established do not comply with the current Trump tariff changes, which causes a wave of such errors and impacts:
- Outdated HS codes → Rejections in CBP's ACE system;
- Lack of reciprocal tariff database for newly implemented tariffs → Missing or incorrect duty data;
- Inconsistencies in documents (e.g., invoice value generated before the implemented tariffs does not match the current declared import) → Delays;
- Entry refusals, especially for goods originating from China, the EU, and Latin America;
- Errors in submission of documents, ENS declaration, or tariff codes → Fines and detention of cargo.
3. Ship schedule restructuring and blank sailings
As shipping lines globally and locally reroute cargo to avoid congested ports and higher duty destinations, it is necessary to be prepared for empty voyages as well as sudden and unexpected schedule changes.
Canadian ports have already become an alternative for carriers from China and the EU shipping to North America.
4. Deeper bottom of inflation & repricing
Due to the country-specific tariff duties applied, here is a list of industries that will be hit hard and experience negative changes in their product pricing models, customer quotes, and cost calculations:
Clothing
Last year, manufacturers from China and Vietnam shipped about $14 billion worth of clothing to the United States, confirming their status as the two largest sources of foreign-made clothing.
Next in terms of volume are such countries as Indonesia, India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. It should be remembered that these countries will now be subject to duties of 26-49%, which will directly affect the cost of clothing for the American consumer.
Electronic devices — Semiconductors and chips, laptops and tablets
China, Vietnam, and Taiwan were the three largest suppliers of laptops and tablets to the United States last year. The amount reached $47.2 billion. In addition, Taiwan is number one in the production of semiconductors and microchips, which does not limit the price increase to laptops and tablets — that’s all about household appliances, medical devices, cars, spare parts, light bulbs, Wi-Fi routers, etc.
(Trump has proposed a separate 25% tariff on semiconductors, but a fact sheet released Wednesday by the White House said such tariffs would not be added to the announced reciprocal tariffs.)
Shoes and toys
Footwear from China and Vietnam accounted for 70% of all footwear imported by the United States in 2024, totaling $18.5 billion.
In turn, toys from these two countries were shipped to the United States for a total of $15 billion (77% of all toys sold in the United States are produced in China alone) in 2024. Given the 54% duty imposed on Chinese goods, fall 2025 will be marked by a 30% increase in toy prices for American consumers.
What do LSPs have to do?
Here’s your step-by-step plan to address current logistics challenges caused by the new tariff wave:
- Be ready for increased entry denials, cargo delays and manual processing, double documentation, and audit risks in US and EU systems: improve classification accuracy (review all shipments) and update to comply with new customs regulations;
- Connect with trusted customs brokers: know the status of documentation in real time, add audit checkpoints for pre-submission of customs declarations;
- Review contracts and SLAs for flexibility during this uncertain period.
Complete accountability with clients:
- Identify all the delays: Transparency into delay risks caused by HTS reclassification or ICS2 denial;
- Communicate to customers in advance if there are volatile lead times and contingency plans;
- Engage clients to review price strategy, carrier diversification, and bundled shipments to mitigate risks;
- Help in assessing alternative sourcing or price policy, e.g., value-added processing in transit;
- Record all delays and keep clear documentation of charges.
Digitalize your supply chain to avoid fines and lost goods:
- Leverage shipment schedule insights to adapt supply chains and stay ahead of empty routes;
- Get real-time updates on your routes with an instant cargo tracking solution;
- Centralize management of more than 25 exceptions at once to recover from delays or stoppages faster;
- Get full visibility to proactively re-route and adapt your trading capacity.
Find out more about Tracking System web integration and API for real-time transparency in global shipping
Wondering how to address your supply chain needs in the current circumstances? Stay tuned for more insights in the next article, and get a tailored logistics solution from our team at [email protected].
