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On April 9 (US time), US President Trump announced:
- An increase in additional 'reciprocal' tariffs on imports from China to 125% (NB: This brings total US additional tariffs on China to 145%, on top of the US's standard tariff).
- 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on all other (56) countries for which a 'reciprocal' additional tariff of over 10% had been announced, and “a substantially lower tariff during this period, of 10%”
The White House subsequently clarified that the 10% additional tariff remains in effect for all countries (including New Zealand) subject to Executive Order 14257(external link), other than China.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent have said:
- 10% tariff remains in effect:
- Leavitt: “There will be a 90 day pause on the reciprocal tariffs as these negotiations are ongoing, and the tariff level will be brought down to a universal 10% tariff.”
- Bessent: When asked how this announcement would affect the countries currently facing only the 10% tariff, Bessent replied, “Yes, that’s going to remain."
- Sectoral tariffs remain in effect:
-
- Bessent: When asked by reporters if the pause will apply to sectoral tariffs, Bessent said, “No, it’s only reciprocal”.
The Executive Order(external link) titled “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment” was released 11 April (NZT) and backdated to April 9 2025.
What does this mean for New Zealand?
Official documentation from the White House (linked here(external link)) clarifies that there is no change for New Zealand exporters:
- The additional 10% tariff still applies to New Zealand, on top of existing US tariffs.
- Further, as stated in Executive Order 14257 of 2 April:
- the 25% sectoral tariffs on steel(external link), aluminium(external link), including products and derivatives; and automobiles and some automobile parts(external link) are still applicable, instead of the additional 10% tariff.
- Products currently exempt from the 10% additional tariff are: lumber, copper, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, certain critical minerals, and energy and energy products: listed in Annex II of the Executive Order. These may be subject to sector-specific tariffs in future; the sector investigations into lumber and copper, announced previously, remain ongoing.
- It is not clear what will happen at the end of the 90-day pause.
NOTE: The Tariff Finder (www.tariff-finder.govt.nz) has been updated to include the applicable tariffs for New Zealand goods trading into the US, for each US tariff line. It specifies, on a tariff line basis, whether the 10% additional tariff applies, or a 25% sector-specific tariff, or the tariff line is currently exempt from additional tariffs.
Please contact us with any further questions on us.exports@mfat.govt.nz
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