U.S. begins collecting its 10% ‘baseline’ global tariffs on many countries

The initial 10 per cent "baseline" tariff to be paid by U.S. importers took effect at U.S. seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m. ET.

U.S. customs agents began collecting President Donald Trump’s unilateral 10 per cent tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week.

The initial 10 per cent “baseline” tariff to be paid by U.S. importers took effect at U.S. seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT), ushering in Trump’s full rejection of the post-World War Two system of mutually agreed tariff rates.

“This is the single biggest trade action of our lifetime,” said Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former White House trade adviser during Trump’s first term.

Shaw told a Brookings Institution event on Thursday that she expected the tariffs to evolve over time as countries seek to negotiate lower rates. “But this is huge. This is a pretty seismic and significant shift in the way that we trade with every country on earth,” she added.

Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement shook global stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in stock market value for S&P 500 .SPX companies by Friday’s close, a record two-day decline. Prices for oil and commodities plunged, while investors fled to the safety of government bonds.

Among the countries first hit with the 10 per centtariff are Australia, Britain, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection bulletin to shippers indicates no grace period for cargoes on the water at midnight on Saturday.

But a U.S. Customs and Border Protection bulletin did provide a 51-day grace period for cargoes loaded onto vessels or planes and in transit to the U.S. before 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. These cargoes need arrive by 12:01 a.m. ET on May 27 to avoid the 10 per cent duty.

At the same hour on Wednesday, Trump’s higher “reciprocal” tariff rates of 11 per cent to 50 per cent are due to take effect. European Union imports will be hit with a 20 per cent tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34 per cent tariff, bringing Trump’s total new levies on China to 54 per cent.