Here Are President Donald Trump's 28 Tariff Flip-Flops

Forbes

The months since President Donald Trump’s April “Liberation Day” tariff announcement have been defined by constant reversals, with Trump’s decision to extend his tariff pause until August just the latest in a long string of about-faces.   Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/07/14/trump-taco-tracker-here-are-the-presidents-28-tariff-flip-flops/   Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1   Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:   https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript   Stay Connected  Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com  Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes  Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes  Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes  More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com   Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Trump Taco Tracker, here are the president's 28 tariff flip-flops.

00:08The month since President Donald Trump's April so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement

00:13have been defined by the constant reversals, with Trump's decision to extend his tariff

00:18pause until August, just the latest in a long string of about-faces, defended by some as

00:24negotiating genius and ridiculed by others as sowing chaos and uncertainty. Trump's frequent

00:30flip-flopping on tariffs, especially after the markets get spooked, has earned him the nickname

00:35of, quote, Taco Trump on Wall Street, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. Here's a list of the

00:42first 10 flip-flops of 28 total so far. All of these 10 happened within the first month.

00:48Flip-flop number one. On April 2nd, Trump formally rolled out his Liberation Day tariff

00:53policy at the White House, imposing sweeping tariffs on nearly all countries, and reversing

00:59course on earlier pledges he made about them, exempting, quote, copper, pharmaceuticals,

01:04semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, and energy and energy products,

01:10despite the White House previously claiming there would be no carve-outs.

01:15Flip-flop number two. The final Liberation Day tariffs also weren't fully, quote,

01:20reciprocal tariffs that matched the rate each country charges for U.S. imports, as Trump had

01:25promised. The president instead said, quote, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal, because,

01:32quote, it would have been tough for a lot of countries, and we didn't want to do that.

01:37Flip-flop number three. After promising the tariff rates would be calculated using a sophisticated

01:42formula based on both existing tariffs and non-tariff barriers with each country,

01:47experts determined the final Liberation Day rates were instead calculated by just dividing a country's

01:53trade surplus with the U.S. by its export value. Flip-flop number four. On April 3rd, hours after

02:00Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, claimed on CNBC the administration's tariff rates were, quote,

02:06not a negotiation, Trump told reporters he was open to making deals with other countries, quote,

02:11as long as they're giving us something that's good. Flip-flop number five. From April 4th to 7th,

02:19Trump and his advisors offered shifting views over whether or not the administration was open to

02:24negotiating tariff rates with other countries, with the president saying on Truth Social that his

02:29tariffs, in all caps, quote, will never change, shortly before advisors suggested other countries

02:35were reaching out to begin trade talks. The president later claimed April 7th that, quote,

02:40both can be true, end quote, there can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations.

02:47Flip-flop number six. On April 9th, Trump unexpectedly paused the worst of his Liberation

02:53Day tariffs for 90 days, just hours after they took effect and caused the stock market to plunge,

02:59keeping only a baseline 10% rate and higher Chinese tariffs in place, despite previously claiming he

03:05would not delay the tariffs. Flip-flop number seven. Trump also almost immediately contradicted

03:12claims by his advisors that delaying the tariffs was his plan all along, as the president told

03:17reporters he only made the decision that morning after, quote, people were jumping a little bit out

03:22of line, end quote, getting yippee. Flip-flop number eight. On April 11th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

03:30issued guidance exempting smartphones, computers, and other electronic devices from the tariffs,

03:36despite repeated claims from Trump and advisors like Howard Lutnick that they wanted that manufacturing

03:41to move to the U.S. Flip-flop number nine. On April 13th, Trump then denied there was any exemption

03:48on electronics, claiming on Truth Social, quote, there was no tariff exception announced on Friday,

03:54and that the tariffs on smartphones and other goods are, quote, just moving to a different tariff bucket.

03:58This, even as others in his administration had already described the guidance as an exemption.

04:06Flip-flop number 10. On April 22nd, after previously claiming he was, quote, comfortable

04:11with the 145% tariff rate he imposed on Chinese imports, Trump told reporters he was planning to

04:17lower that number, saying he didn't want to play, quote, hardball with China, and the rate would,

04:22quote, come down substantially, but it won't be zero.

04:25For full coverage, and to see the rest of the 28 Trump tariff flip-flops up until now,

04:31check out Alison Durkee's piece on Forbes.com.

04:36This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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