Trump's Tariffs Ignite Global Trade Wars: The Timeline

The ongoing and unpredictable tariff policies are expected to raise prices.

- AGENCIES

Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into trade wars abroad—all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.

Trump launched a trade war during his first term as well, taking particular aim at China by putting taxes on most of its goods. Beijing responded with its own retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. products. Trump used the threat of more tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate a North American trade pact, called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in 2020.

When President Joe Biden took office, he preserved most of the tariffs Trump had enacted against China, in addition to imposing some new restrictions. But his administration claimed to take a more targeted approach.