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Tariffs Start at 10%, Key Exemption to End; MAHA Seeds Demand for Tallow By Mark R. Long

The U.S. will slap a 10% new tariff on all imports and much higher duties for some countries, President Trump said in a Rose Garden ceremony marking a stark shift away from decades of trade policy.

The WSJ writes that Trump combined two concepts-a universal tariff and nation-specific duties-that aides had debated. In addition to the 10% baseline tariff that takes effect April 5, countries the White House considers to be bad actors on trade will get hit with a "discounted reciprocal tariff" of varying rates, effective April 9.

For instance, a new 34% tariff on China will add to previous duties, such as the 20% duty Trump imposed over fentanyl. So, the base tariff rate on Chinese imports will be 54%. The president also announced reciprocal tariffs of 46% on Vietnam and 32% on Indonesia, critical consumer-goods suppliers that benefitted as U.S. importers switched away from Chinese manufacturers.

The fight against fentanyl was also cited by Trump as the reason for scrapping, as of May 2, a popular duty exemption on goods costing $800 or less from China and Hong Kong , the WSJ Logistics Report's Liz Young writes. Use of this de minimis provision has ballooned in recent years with a flood of goods from bargain sites such as Shein and Temu.

Some other details from WSJ's coverage of the sweeping trade-policy shift:

Canada and Mexico are excluded from President Trump's reciprocal tariff regime. Industries like steel, aluminum and autos already subject to new national security tariffs won't be affected by new reciprocal or baseline tariffs. The administration said it would impose a 25% tariff on imported beer cans and empty aluminum cans. Trump didn't announce pharmaceutical tariffs and language in the executive order indicated medicines were exempted from the reciprocal tariffs. A 25% tariff on all foreign-made autos took effect at midnight , as scheduled. CONTENT FROM: PENSKE Gain AI. Gain Ground with Penske.

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Costs Build Up

Home builder Neal Communities spent months trying to prepare for the fallout from new tariffs.

The Sarasota, Fla., company stockpiled inventory, planned a switch to U.S.-grown lumber instead of Canadian wood and adjusted project designs. As the Journal's Rebecca Picciotto writes, the mad scramble in the days before Trump's tariff announcement illustrates how these duties are poised to ripple through the housing industry . The new tariffs could boost the cost of a new home and stress the overall housing market, which is showing signs of life , despite stubborn mortgage rates.

Some new costs are indirect. Southern yellow pine is firmer and less elastic than Canadian spruce, which meant Neal Communities' truss supplier re-engineered the blueprints for 57 of Neal's home models, at $600 per redo. Meanwhile about 50 suppliers have sent the company letters warning of possible price increases, each forcing a rethink of materials contracts.

Quotable Run to Fat

It makes fries delicious, and with backers of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda embracing it, beef tallow is having such a moment that suppliers are struggling to keep up.

The WSJ's Patrick Thomas and Roshan Fernandez write that tallow, made from the melted-down fatty tissue of slaughtered cattle, has boomed in popularity among restaurant chains and consumers looking to ditch seed oils. Agriculture industry officials caution that a mass switch away from soybean and canola oils isn't feasible, and that science shows seed oils are, in fact, healthy.

The U.S. produced about 1 billion pounds of edible tallow last year, about 1/15th the amount of edible, refined soybean oil. Agriculture giant Cargill said the substitutes for seed oils are limited. Palm oil is the only one with the scale to meet global consumer demand, said the food commodities trader, which also supplies beef tallow.

Number of the Day In Other News

U.S. private sector hiring picked up pace in March, driven by a rebound in manufacturing and despite tariff uncertainty. (WSJ)

Tesla's first-quarter global vehicle deliveries fell 13% from a year earlier, amid growing consumer backlash against Elon Musk. (WSJ)

The owner of a large Pennsylvania coal plant imploded it to make way for a giant AI data-center campus powered by natural gas. (WSJ)

Irish convenience-food maker Greencore agreed on a possible cash offer to acquire Bakkavor in a deal valuing its U.K. peer at around $1.55 billion. (WSJ)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Lanco Group sold their freight and passenger railway along the Panama Canal to an independent unit of A.P. Moeller-Maersk. (Dow Jones Newswires)

United Parcel Service renamed its SurePost home-delivery offering UPS Ground Saver. (Supply Chain Dive)

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering is expanding capacity in the Philippines as Chinese shipbuilding comes under U.S. pressure. (TradeWinds)

About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2025 07:11 ET (11:11 GMT)

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