10 times Trump has threatened, then backtracked on, tariffs as Wall Street embraces 'TACO trades'

NBC News

6 days ago

Tariffs were a defining promise of President Donald Trump's campaign, and they have been a defining feature of his second term in office. But just over five months in, many of his tariff proclamations haven't turned into reality.
While Trump has imposed a number of sweeping tariffs that have been driving up costs for American businesses and consumers buying goods from overseas, he has threatened far more tariffs than he has carried through on.
That has created a climate of uncertainty that has caused some businesses to lay off workers and delay investments, as well as led to volatility in the stock market. Financial analysts have taken to calling Trump's on-again, off-again moves TACO trade or the TACO theory — an acronym for "Trump Always Chickens Out." (Asked by a reporter about the phrase, Trump called the question "nasty" and said, "It's called negotiation.")
Here are 10 times Trump has threatened, then backtracked on, tariffs since he took office. Notably, in some cases, like threatened tariffs against Colombia, the administration did win policy concessions in other areas after it wielded the threat. But other tariffs threats have come and gone without other tangible results.
E.U. tariffs
In one of his latest tariff moves, Trump threatened last Friday to impose a 50% tariff on goods shipped into the United States from the European Union, saying the European countries weren't taking ongoing trade talks seriously enough.
Trump said the tariff would go into effect on June 1, but two days later, he delayed it until July 9, after he said he had spoken with E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Trump said she asked for the delay.
Trump had threatened Europe with a 20% tariff as part of his "reciprocal" tariffs announced April 2. But hours after those tariffs were scheduled to go into effect, Trump reduced tariffs on Europe and most other countries to 10% for 90 days to give his administration time to work out individual trade deals. The tariff on European imports remains at 10%.
Wine tariff
Aside from the wider tariffs on the E.U., Trump announced March 13 on social media that he would impose a 200% tariff on wine imported into the United States from the E.U. after the E.U. threatened a 50% tariff on American whiskey. That threat came in response to Trump's earlier tariffs on European steel and aluminum.
The tit-for-tat over alcohol never came to fruition, with European officials saying a week later that they would delay the threatened whiskey tariff until mid-April, pending negotiations with the United States. There have been no tariffs on European wines aside from Trump's blanket 10% tariff on all imports.
Canada and Mexico tariffs
Among Trump's first tariff targets were the United States' neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Just weeks into office, he signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, saying they weren't doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl across the border.
In response, Canada and Mexico announced their own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and Canadians began to boycott American brands.
A day before the tariffs were set to be collected, Trump said he was pausing them for 30 days. He said he was making the pause because of actions Canada and Mexico said they were taking at their borders, though a number of those steps were already underway when Trump first announced his tariffs.
Once the 30-day pause was up, Trump said March 4 that the 25% tariffs on Canada would go into effect. But two days after he implemented the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, he said he would pause them again until April 2 for most goods. When Trump announced wider tariffs for nearly all countries on April 2, Canada and Mexico were excluded.
Despite the back-and-forth, there are no tariffs on most goods from Canada and Mexico that fall under the North American trade deal signed during Trump's first term.
Tariff on films
Trump said May 4 on social media that he was directing his administration to start collecting a 100% tariff 'on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,' without giving any details about when or how it would be collected.
A few hours later, the White House said that no final decisions had been made and that the administration was 'exploring its options.' By the afternoon, Trump said he would meet with industry officials to make sure they were 'happy' with his plan. The administration hasn't taken any action since the initial social media post.
Reciprocal tariffs
Trump announced a variety of tariffs on nearly every country in the world as part of his so-called reciprocal tariffs in an event dubbed 'liberation day.' Trump said it would 'forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.'
Those tariffs ranged from a baseline of 10% to a high of 49%.
But on April 9, the day those tariffs were set to go into effect, Trump said he was pausing them until July 2 to have time to negotiate individual trade deals with the more than 90 countries that had reached out to his administration. In the interim, he said, he would put a blanket 10% tariff on nearly all countries.
Since the "reciprocal" tariff pause, Trump has announced just one outline of a trade agreement with the United Kingdom.
A trade court ruled Wednesday that Trump exceeded his authority to impose those tariffs. The Trump administration is appealing that ruling, and for now, the tariffs remain in place.
China tariffs
Tariffs against China have been one of Trump's most consistent threats — he has accused it repeatedly of 'ripping off' the United States with unfair trade practices. Trump had ratcheted up his tariffs on China over several months to more than 145% in April, a level that caused businesses to halt shipments coming from China and pause future orders.
But just as the last of the pre-tariff imports from China had arrived in U.S. ports and shipments from China were on track to tumble, Trump said he was lowering the tariffs to 10% for 90 days, giving U.S. and Chinese officials time to begin trade discussions after an initial meeting between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart. Trump left a separate 20% tariff in place related to the country's production of the ingredients in fentanyl.
The trade court ruling Wednesday struck down both the 10% and the 20% fentanyl tariffs, though they remain, for now, while the appeals process continues.
Tariff on iPhones
Days after he increased tariffs on China to at least 145%, Trump created a carve-out for iPhones and some other electronics made in China, lowering the tariff rate for them to 20%.
Still, Trump has continued to push for iPhones to be made in the United States, not other lower-cost countries, like India, where Apple has said it is increasingly shifting manufacturing. Trump said last Friday that he would impose a 25% tariff on iPhones and other smartphones, regardless of where they were made, starting at the end of June.
But senior administration officials seemed to walk back Trump's demands that iPhones be made in the United States, as well as the scope of any potential tariffs. Bessent said it was the chips in the phones, not necessarily the phones themselves, that Trump wanted to see made in the United States.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said a few days later that the administration doesn't want to 'harm Apple,' and he referred to the move as 'a tiny little tariff on them right now, to try to negotiate down the tariffs.'
Colombia tariff
On Trump's sixth day back in office, he ignited a trade spat with Colombia that lasted less than 24 hours. Trump threatened Colombia with a 25% tariff after its president barred two U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants from landing in the country. The United States is a major importer of coffee, flowers and produce from Colombia.
Colombia responded with its own 25% tariff on U.S. products. But it soon said it would allow the flights, and the two countries backed down on their trade war threats.
Tariff on dolls
Trump said he would impose steep tariffs on toymaker Mattel — even if it moves its overseas production out of China — after its CEO said it was looking to shift more production out of China but didn't see it moving to the United States.
'That's OK, let him go, and we'll put a 100% tariff on his toys, and he won't sell one toy in the United States, and that's their biggest market,' Trump said in the Oval Office on May 8. Trump had said children in the United States would simply have fewer dolls if the cost of the toys increased because of tariffs.
Trump has since suggested that the United States is more interested in bringing higher-skilled manufacturing with a national security element to the country rather than lower-cost consumer goods.
'I'm not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I'm not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations,' he said Sunday. 'We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships.'
Auto tariffs
Trump announced a 25% tariff on all auto imports effective April 3 that would apply to any vehicle not assembled in the United States, which would account for nearly half of all vehicles sold in the country.
About a month later, he signed an executive order easing some of those tariffs, addressing concerns that they would drive up the cost of cars assembled in the United States with parts imported from other countries.
Trump later said he would reduce tariffs for cars made in the U.K., such as those by Land Rover and Aston Martin, to 10% under a tentative trade agreement between the United States and the U.K. that officials on both sides continue to negotiate.