Keep track of key developments as they unfold
To better help the industry stay abreast of developments impacting nuts and dried fruits, the INC has published this timeline of the key tariff-related events affecting the sector that have occurred since this issue took center stage in early 2025. This page will be updated regularly, so check back often to see where things stand. Last update: January 22, 2026.
January 20, 2025: Donald Trump takes office as US President.
February 1, 2025: Trump imposed a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on goods from China.
February 3, 2025: As Canada and Mexico were preparing retaliatory measures, Trump agreed to postpone implementation of the tariffs on both countries for at least 30 days.
February 4, 2025: The 10% tariff on China went into effect and China announced a series of retaliatory tariffs.
February 11, 2025: Trump ordered a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, with date of application March 12.
March 3, 2025: Trump doubled the new tariff on China from 10% to 20%.
March 4, 2025: The US blanket tariff of 25% on Mexico and Canada took effect. Canada responded by imposing a 25% tariff on various US products, including peanut butter. The same day, China announced its own retaliatory measures, including an additional 10% tariff on most US tree nuts, dried fruits, and peanut butter, among other agricultural products (see table).
March 5, 2025: Backtracking partially, Trump granted a one-month reprieve on automotive tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
March 6, 2025: Trump said he would suspend the 25% tariff on products traded under the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement, but implied that other tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products would be coming in April.
March 12, 2025: The EU announced countermeasures in response to Trump’s 25% tariff on European steel and aluminum, which had come into effect that same day. This consisted of two parts:
- The suspension of existing countermeasures against the US from 2018 and 2020 would be allowed to lapse on April 1, whereupon 25% duties would come into effect on US peanut butter and dried cranberries.
- The EU put forward a package of new countermeasures on US goods, which were expected to come into force by mid-April, after a public consultation as well as consultation with EU Member States. The draft list of products that could be targeted by these measures included shelled and in-shell almonds.
March 20, 2025: The EU Trade Commissioner announced that the application of the measures affecting US peanut butter and dried cranberries would be pushed back from April 1 to mid-April, allowing time for negotiations. This move was meant to align the timing of the two tranches of EU countermeasures.
April 2, 2025: Trump announced expansive new tariffs. A baseline 10% tariff was announced for all imports into the US, with higher rates being applied to around 60 countries, including 34% for China, 20% for the European Union, 27% for India, 24% for Japan, 26% for South Korea, and 46% for Vietnam. The baseline 10% tariff was set to come into effect on April 5, while the higher tariffs were set to apply from April 9.
April 3, 2025: The European Commission President announced that the EU hoped to negotiate a solution with the US, but added that the Union was preparing for further countermeasures in case the negotiations fail. The same day, the UK announced a public consultation on potential countermeasures that could affect various nuts and dried fruits.
April 4, 2025: China announced that a 34% tariff would apply to all imports from the United States as of April 10.
April 5, 2025: The baseline 10% tariff announced by Trump on April 2 came into effect.
April 8, 2025: Trump imposed an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports, bringing the total tariffs on Chinese goods to 104%.
April 9, 2025: The higher, country-specific tariffs announced by Trump on April 2 briefly came into effect. The same day, China raised its own tariff on US goods, bringing the total rate to 84%. Trump then announced in a social media post that the US tariff on Chinese goods would be raised to 125%, effective immediately (although the White House later clarified that the rate was actually 145%). In the same social media post, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the country-specific tariffs that had been announced on April 2, bringing the rate charged on the affected countries down to the baseline rate of 10%. Also on April 9, the EU Member States voted on the countermeasures against the US.
April 10, 2025: The European Commission President took note of Trump’s announced 90-day pause, expressed readiness to negotiate, and said the countermeasures would be adopted but put on hold for 90 days.
April 11, 2025: China again raised its tariff on US goods, bringing the total rate to 125%.
April 14, 2025: The EU published two implementing acts, one that adopts the EU countermeasures, and another that immediately suspends them for 90 days. Here it is confirmed that a 25% tariff on US almonds is set to take effect on December 1. Application of the 25% duty on US peanut butter and dried cranberries is suspended until July 14.
May 8, 2025: The EU announced a public consultation on a list of US imports that could become subject to EU countermeasures if ongoing EU-US negotiations do not result in a mutually beneficial outcome and the removal of the US tariffs. The list of potentially affected products includes a broad range of nuts and dried fruits. The consultation will run until June 10, 2025.
May 14, 2025: The United States and China agreed to substantially reduce tariffs on each other’s goods for an initial period of 90 days, bringing US tariffs on Chinese goods down from 145% to 30% and lowering Chinese tariffs on American goods from 125% to 10%.
May 23, 2025: Trump threatens to impose a 50% tariff on EU goods as of June 1, claiming that trade talks with the Union were “going nowhere.”
May 25, 2025: Trump drops the threat of a 50% tariff on EU goods after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
May 28, 2025: U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that federal law did not allow Trump “unbounded authority” to place tariffs on imports from countries around the world. The Trump administration was given 10 days to remove the tariffs, but was expected to appeal the decision. If upheld, this decision would affect the tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada, as well as the baseline 10% tariff on all imports from all origins.
May 29, 2025: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ordered an administrative stay, allowing tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada, as well as the baseline 10% tariff on all imports from all origins, to remain in place during the appeals process. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 31.
June 20, 2025: U.S. Supreme Court declined to expedite review of a legal challenge alleging that Trump lacks the authority to authorize tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The case will move forward on the usual schedule and a ruling is expected later in the summer.
July 2, 2025: Trump announced a trade deal with Viet Nam, under which the US will apply a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods (substantially lower than the suspended 46% rate that had been set to come into effect a week later), a 40% tariff will apply to transshipments to the US from third countries via Viet Nam, and Viet Nam will apply zero tariffs on imports of US goods.
July 7, 2025: Trump issued an executive order extending the suspension of the country-specific tariffs until August 1. On the same day, Trump posted on social media letters addressed to the leaders of 14 countries, detailing his intention to apply tariffs ranging from 25% to 40% on goods from the affected countries as of August 1.
July 9, 2025: Trump posted a similar letter to the leader of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, vowing to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods on August 1 unless Brazil stops the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as reported by the BBC. Lula replied by saying that Brazil would respond reciprocally to any increase in tariffs.
July 11, 2025: Trump announced 35% tariff on imports from Canada, effective August 1.
July 12, 2025: Trump announced 30% tariffs on imports from Mexico and the European Union, effective August 1.
July 14, 2025: EU delayed 25% tariff on US dried cranberries and peanut butter, among other products, until August 6 to give more time for negotiations.
July 20, 2025: In an interview with CBS News, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared to confirm that Canadian and Mexican goods that comply with the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) would continue to be exempt from the tariffs for now.
July 22, 2025: Trump announced trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan, under which the US will charge tariffs of 19%, 19%, and 15%, respectively, on goods from these countries.
July 24, 2025: The EU published countermeasures that will come into effect if no deal is reached with the US. The US products affected include peanut butter and dried cranberries (25%, from August 7); almonds (25%, from December 1); Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, peanuts, dates, dried apricots, dried figs, currants, sultanas, and prunes (30%, from September 7); pistachios, walnuts, and other dried grapes (30%, from February 7, 2026). The regulation makes no provisions for goods in transit.
July 27, 2025: The US and the EU announced a trade deal under which a 15% tariff will be charged on most EU goods entering the US. Additionally, zero-for-zero tariffs were agreed for various strategic products, including certain agricultural products. Further details were unavailable at the time of this report.
July 30, 2025: The US announced a 40% tariff on goods from Brazil, effective August 6, with an exception for in-shell Brazil nuts, among other products. Goods in transit arriving in the US by October 5 are also exempted. The same day, Trump announced that the US would charge a 15% tariff on South Korean imports.
August 1, 2025: Trump placed sweeping new tariffs on 70 different countries and territories, with rates ranging from 10% to 41%, effective August 7. Separately, Trump raised the tariff on Canadian goods from 25% to 35%, effective immediately, with an exception for goods that qualify for duty-free entry under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).
August 5, 2025: The EU published Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1727, which immediately suspends the countermeasures published on July 24, including hefty tariffs on all sorts of nuts and dried fruits, for a period of six months.
August 6, 2025: Trump signed an executive order that introduced an additional 25% duty on Indian goods entering the US, in retaliation for India’s purchases of Russian oil. This new duty, combined with an earlier 25% tariff announced by the US in late July, will bring the total US tariff rate on Indian goods to 50% as of August 27.
August 7, 2025: In response to the US imposing a 39% tariff on Swiss goods, Switzerland said that it would continue negotiations with the US and was not currently considering any retaliatory measures.
August 11, 2025: The US and China agreed to extend their tariff truce until November 10, maintaining the current US rate of 30% on Chinese goods and the Chinese rate of 10% on US goods and preventing both rates from spiking into the triple digits.
August 21, 2025: The EU and the US published a joint statement fleshing out further details of the framework agreement between the two economies.
August 28, 2025: The European Commission published a legislative proposal that would eliminate tariffs on certain US dried fruits and introduce a tariff rate quota (TRQs) for certain US tree nuts. The European Parliament and Council will have to approve the proposals under the ordinary legislative procedure before these measures can enter into force.
August 29, 2025: The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, imposed on dozens of countries around the world, as well as additional tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, are illegal. The tariffs will remain in place until October 14 and the Trump administration is expected to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court.
September 1, 2025: Canada removed most of its retaliatory tariffs against goods from the United States, including a 25% duty on US peanut butter.
October 25, 2025: Trump announced an additional 10% tariff hike on Canadian imports, triggered in part by a TV advertisement aired by a Canadian province (Ontario) that criticized US tariffs.
October 31, 2025: Trump announced the United States will lower tariffs on Chinese goods from 20% to 10% following talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
November 4, 2025: Trump signed an Executive Order lowering the tariff on Chinese goods from 20% to 10%, effective November 10, 2025.
November 10, 2025: Following the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in October, China’s tariffs on nut and dried fruit imports from the US have been reduced by 10% compared with the first half of the year (click here for details on current rates on nuts and here for dried fruits).
November 14, 2025: Trump issued an Executive Order exempting the following tree nuts from the sweeping tariffs implemented via an Executive Order on April 2, 2025: Brazil nuts (in-shell and shelled), cashews (in-shell and shelled), macadamias (in-shell and shelled), and pine nuts (in-shell and shelled).
November 14, 2025: Trump agreed to lower tariffs on goods from Switzerland and neighboring Liechtenstein from 39% to 15%, in line with the rate applied to EU goods.
December 30, 2025: The European Union published an autonomous duty suspension affecting sweetened dried cranberries for the manufacture of products of food processing industries (excluding packing or pasteurization alone as processing). The 0% autonomous duty rate applies as of January 1, 2026.
January 12, 2026: Trump announced that any country doing business with Iran would face a 25% tariff on goods entering the United States “effective immediately,” but his social media was not followed by any official communication from the White House.
January 17, 2026: Trump announced that he would impose a 10% tariff on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, adding that the tariff would rise to 25% on June 1 if no deal was reached for the purchase of Greenland by the US. Trump’s social media was not followed by any official communication from the White House. The threat cast doubt on the future of the EU-US trade deal, which the European Parliament had been poised to ratify.
January 21, 2026: The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee suspended work towards parliamentary ratification of the EU-US deal, and Trump retracted his threat to impose tariffs on European countries over the Greenland dispute.
Where things stand:
- US baseline tariff of 10% on all imports from all origins remains in effect.*
- US tariffs on the following countries and territories came into force on August 7, 2025: Afghanistan (15%), Algeria (30%), Angola (15%), Bangladesh (20%), Bolivia (15%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (30%), Botswana (15%), Brazil (10%), Brunei (25%), Cambodia (19%), Cameroon (15%), Chad (15%), Costa Rica (15%), Côte d’Ivoire (15%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (15%), Ecuador (15%), Equatorial Guinea (15%), European Union (15%), Falkland Islands (10%), Fiji (15%), Ghana (15%), Guyana (15%), Iceland (15%), India (25%), Indonesia (19%), Iraq (35%), Israel (15%), Japan (15%), Jordan (15%), Kazakhstan (25%), Laos (40%), Lesotho (15%), Libya (30%), Liechtenstein (15%), Madagascar (15%), Malawi (15%), Malaysia (19%), Mauritius (15%), Moldova (25%), Mozambique (15%), Myanmar (40%), Namibia (15%), Nauru (15%), New Zealand (15%), Nicaragua (18%), Nigeria (15%), North Macedonia (15%), Norway (15%), Pakistan (19%), Papua New Guinea (15%), Philippines (19%), Serbia (35%), South Africa (30%), South Korea (15%), Sri Lanka (20%), Syria (41%), Taiwan (20%), Thailand (19%), Trinidad and Tobago (15%), Tunisia (25%), Türkiye (15%), Uganda (15%), United Kingdom (10%), Vanuatu (15%), Venezuela (15%), Vietnam (20%), Zambia (15%), and Zimbabwe (15%).
- US applies an additional 25% tariff on goods from India in retaliation for India’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total US tariff rate on Indian goods to 50%.
- US–EU trade deal: US will apply a 15% tariff on most EU goods. The EU has proposed a 0% tariff on US dried fruit and a 0% tariff on US tree nuts with a 500,000 MT tariff rate quota (pending legislative approval). An autonomous duty suspension affecting sweetened dried cranberries for the manufacture of products of food processing industries (excluding packing or pasteurization alone as processing) took effect on January 1, 2026.
- US–Viet Nam trade deal: US will apply a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods and a 40% tariff on transshipments from third countries via Viet Nam; Viet Nam will apply zero tariffs on imports of US goods. Starting date unclear.
- US–Japan trade deal: US will apply a 15% tariff on Japanese goods.
- US–Indonesia trade deal: US will apply a 19% tariff on Indonesian goods.
- US–Philippines trade deal: US will apply a 19% tariff on Filipino goods.
- US tariff on Brazilian goods stands at 40%. In-shell Brazil nuts excluded.
- US–South Korea trade deal: US will apply a 15% tariff on South Korean goods.
- US tariff on Canadian goods stands at 35%, with an exception for goods that qualify for duty-free entry under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). (At the time of this report, the 10% tariff hike on Canadian goods announced by Trump on October 25, 2025, had not yet been officially implemented.)
- US-Switzerland trade deal: US will apply a 15% tariff on goods from Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
* This tariff has been ruled unlawful by a US federal appeals court. The Trump administration filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court, which heard arguments on November 5, 2025. A decision in the case is expected in early 2026.