On April 9, participants across commodity markets and beyond took a (cautious) sigh of relief as US President Trump and the White House administration confirmed the higher reciprocal tariffs would be paused for 90 days, while the 10% baseline rate would remain.
The main exception is for China: The US upped tariffs to 125% due to the country’s 84% tariff retaliation on US imports. In early March, Trump noted that he would add another 10% tariff on Chinese goods, on top of the initial 10% tariff he placed on the country in February. So, the figure now stands at 145%.
“The situation is nuanced,” said Heather Doyle during Expana’s “Navigating Tariff Turbulence in Agrifood Markets” webinar on April 10. Doyle pointed out the range of feed additive ingredients like vitamins which are only manufactured outside the US.
During the webinar, Angel Rubio pointed out markets like seafood (with US buyers importing ~85% of shrimp) and pork which have been impacted by tariff threats and implementation.
The grains industry is another, as Murphy Campbell’s webinar presence suggested, that cannot be ignored as many US soybean buyers are in China.
Additionally, China has shifted global imports from the US to places like Brazil—to insulate themselves from the first tariff spat with Trump in 2018.
In other news, tariff rates on Canada and Mexico remain unchanged, said Jamie Chadwick during Expana’s webinar, with a rate of 25% for those goods that do not fall under the US-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA). It is thought that a significant volume of agri-food products fall under the terms of USMCA.
Across the Atlantic, the European Union (EU) dropped countermeasures leaders had agreed upon in response to the still-standing US tariffs on steel and aluminum. Other tariffs still seemingly in play are those on automobiles, and secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela. Previously, EU tariffs would've taken effect April 15--now they're tabled till December.
This publication contains all information available to Expana’s team as of April 10. This tariff rundown tracks the weekly changes in tariff news, and how each social media announcement, interview, or press conference may affect global agri-commodity producers and trade partners. Keep reading for tariff-related news, commodity-by-commodity...
