The tariff stack didn't happen all at once. It happened 15 times.
Every entry below changed what a shipment actually cost — sometimes overnight. If your HTS code was wrong at any point on this timeline, the wrong tariff programs got applied, and the number you budgeted for wasn't the number CBP charged.
Section 122's 10% global surcharge expires July 24, 2026
That's five days from today. Unlike the tariffs before it, this one has a hard statutory clock — no President can extend it unilaterally, and Congress hasn't. A Section 301 replacement (10–12.5%, targeting 60 countries) is proposed but not finalized. Litigation over Section 122's legality is still active on appeal. Three separate clocks — sunset, succession, and the court case — are running at once, and nobody currently importing knows for certain what their rate looks like on July 25.
The first tariff: fentanyl-related duties on China
President Trump invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for the first time to impose a tariff, citing China's role in the fentanyl supply chain. It's an unusual use of a sanctions law — and the opening move in what becomes a year of near-constant rate changes.
Steel and aluminum tariffs jump to 25%, exclusions frozen
Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum rise from 10% to 25%, and the administration stops granting new product exclusions. Anyone importing metal-based goods loses a safety valve overnight.
"Liberation Day": reciprocal tariffs hit nearly every country
A single executive order applies country-specific tariffs ranging from roughly 20% (EU) to 49% (Cambodia). China's cumulative rate reaches 54%. For the first time, almost no country of origin is untouched.
De minimis ends for China and Hong Kong
Packages under $800 from China and Hong Kong lose duty-free treatment. Direct-to-consumer sellers shipping from China face full customs entry for the first time in the platform's history.
A 90-day U.S.–China truce cuts tariffs from 125% to 10%
After a months-long tit-for-tat that pushed tariffs as high as 125% in each direction, both countries agree to a temporary reduction. It's a pattern that repeats for the rest of the year: escalate, then partially de-escalate.
Steel and aluminum tariffs double again, to 50%
Section 232 rates jump from 25% to 50% for nearly every country except the UK. Businesses that had just priced in March's 25% absorb a second jump within three months.
Congress locks in a permanent end date for de minimis
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act writes a full repeal of the $800 de minimis threshold into law, effective July 1, 2027 — a hard backstop regardless of what happens with executive orders in the meantime.
De minimis ends for the entire world
An executive order eliminates duty-free entry for all low-value shipments from any country. Roughly 1.4 billion packages a year that used to clear duty-free now require a real customs entry — with a real HTS code attached.
Commerce adds 400+ products to the Section 232 derivative list
The first formal "inclusions process" round pulls hundreds of additional HTS codes into steel and aluminum derivative tariffs — proof that the covered product list itself isn't static, even between major policy changes.
A second U.S.–China deal, extended a full year
Fentanyl-related tariffs on China are cut from 20% to 10%, and the broader tariff truce is extended through November 2026 — the longest stretch of relative stability all year.
The Supreme Court strikes down every IEEPA tariff
In a 6–3 ruling, the Court holds that IEEPA never authorized the President to impose tariffs in the first place. Every fentanyl, reciprocal, and related IEEPA duty since 2025 is invalidated — an estimated $175 billion in refunds now owed to importers who paid them.
A replacement tariff fills the gap within days: Section 122
The administration reaches for a rarely used 1974 statute — last invoked by Nixon in 1971 — and imposes a flat 10% surcharge on imports from nearly every country. Unlike IEEPA, this one carries a hard 150-day legal clock that no President can extend alone.
Steel, aluminum, and copper tariffs restructured again
Section 232 duties now apply to a product's full customs value instead of just its metal content, with a new tiered system — 50%, 25%, 15%, or 10% — based on composition and where the metal was produced. The exclusions petition process is eliminated entirely.
USTR proposes the next tariff before the current one even expires
With Section 122's sunset approaching, the U.S. Trade Representative proposes new Section 301 duties of 10–12.5% on 60 trading partners under a forced-labor rationale — the mechanism already being positioned to replace what's about to expire.
Section 122 expires by law — and nothing is settled
The 10% global surcharge sunsets automatically at midnight. Whether a Section 301 replacement takes effect at the same moment, whether the underlying legality of Section 122 survives its own court appeal, and what that means for duties already collected are all still open questions as of this page's last update.
This is exactly why classification can't be an afterthought
Every one of these fifteen events changed the answer to "what tariff programs apply to my product" — sometimes for an entire product category, sometimes for one specific HTS suffix. A calculator that hasn't been checked against this week's rules gives you last year's number.
Check your landed cost now →This timeline reflects public reporting and government notices as of July 19, 2026, and is provided for general background only — it is not customs, legal, or trade compliance advice. Tariff programs referenced here are subject to ongoing litigation and administrative change; always confirm current rates and legal status with a licensed customs broker or official CBP guidance before relying on them for an entry.