The first three weeks of Donald Trump’s second administration have certainly not passed without incident, with traders around the world on tenterhooks as the president targets US duty tariffs.

As swift as the actions have been, not all of Trump’s executive orders have gone to plan, which are summarised below:

1st Feb: 25% Duty For Canada and Mexico
CURRENT STATUS: ON-HOLD

Within 48 hours of signing the executive orders for a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, Trump put both on hold for 30 days after phone calls with the respective presidents. In the meantime, both countries have seemingly been tasked with improving border security to restrict illegal drugs crossing into the US.

1st Feb: 10% Duty hike on imports from China
CURRENT STATUS: LIVE

The additional 10% duty increase went live from 4th February, China has since introduced its own tariff hikes on specific imports from the US.

1st Feb: Cancellation of ‘de minimis’ trade exemption
CURRENT STATUS: ON-HOLD

An existing rule that enables goods under $800 in value to be imported duty free. Trump removed the rule with his sights set on Chinese e-commerce giants like Temu and Shein. However, the US Postal Service was unable to manage the duty collections at such short notice and the rule has been reinstated until they are able to do so.

10th Feb: 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports
CURRENT STATUS: GOING LIVE MAR 12th

Trump announced the 25% tariff this week on all steel and aluminium imports, saying they will be enforced “without exceptions or exemptions”.

We very much suspect this is not an end to the story and will update any major changes as things develop.