On September 5, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO”), titled Modifying the Scope of Reciprocal Tariffs and Establishing Procedures for Implementing Trade and Security Agreements (the “Order”). The Order modifies the list of products excluded from reciprocal tariffs and creates a framework for implementing future trade deals.
As listed in Annex I of the Order, several products, including certain aluminum hydroxide, resin, and silicone products, are removed from Annex II (of EO 14257) list of exempted goods. They are classified in Chapters 28, 38, and 39 and are now subject to reciprocal tariffs.
Certain products, including bullion-related articles, critical minerals, and pharmaceutical products subject to pending Section 232 investigations, have been added to Annex II. These products are classified in Chapters 25, 26, 28, 29, 47, 71, 72, 75, and 85 and are now excluded from reciprocal tariffs.
The Order indicates President Trump decided the modification is necessary and appropriate to deal with the national emergency declared under EO 14257 based on the “monitoring” activities he directed and the “additional information and recommendations” he received. These changes took effect on September 8, 2025.
In line with the commitments made pursuant to the existing framework agreements, the Order also establishes a framework to implement existing as well as future trade deals. The Order creates an Annex III (see page 38) of Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners, listing products for which President Trump may be willing to provide a zero percent reciprocal tariff rate upon the conclusion of any future reciprocal trade and security deals. These products fall into four categories:
- certain aircraft and aircraft parts;
- certain generic pharmaceuticals and their ingredients;
- certain unavailable natural resources and closely related derivative products; and
- certain agricultural products not grown or produced in sufficient quantity in the United States to meet domestic demand.
The Order does not establish a clear exclusion process for products included in Annex III. President Trump states in the Order that his willingness to reduce the reciprocal tariff to zero and to modify the separate sectoral Section 232 tariffs depends on “the scope and economic value of a trading partner’s commitments to the United States in its agreement on reciprocal trade” and U.S. national interests. Therefore, to earn a reduction of reciprocal tariffs for some or all of the products listed in Annex III, a trading partner must conclude a deal with the United States that helps mitigate the national emergency relating to the trade deficit.
President Trump’s Executive Order on September 4, 2025, Implementing the United States-Japan Agreement (the “Japan EO”), is consistent with the implementation framework discussed above. The Japan EO implements the previously announced framework agreement with Japan and shows a deal generally consistent with what the European Union (“EU”) had obtained. Namely, a baseline 15 percent reciprocal tariff applies to nearly all Japanese imports. Like the EU deal, for goods having a most favored nation (“MFN”) rate (or “Column 1 Duty Rate”) below 15 percent, the duty rate is capped at 15 percent; for goods with an MFN rate at or above 15 percent, the reciprocal tariff rate is zero. Implementation of the tariff measures will apply retroactively to Japanese goods entered on or after August 7, 2025. Consistent with Annex III, the Japan Order also authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to reduce the reciprocal tariffs to zero for natural resources unavailable or insufficiently available in the United States, generic pharmaceuticals, generic pharmaceutical ingredients, and generic pharmaceutical chemical precursors from reciprocal tariffs, depending on Japan’s performance of its commitments to the trade deal.
