If you’re trying to pin down exactly when did Trump first announce tariffs, you have to look past the campaign rallies of 2016. While he spent months on the trail promising to "tax the hell" out of companies moving jobs overseas, the actual gears of government didn't start grinding until he sat in the Oval Office.
The short answer? January 22, 2018.
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That was the day the rhetoric became real. It wasn't a broad tax on everything from China or a sweeping global levy right out of the gate. Instead, it was surprisingly specific: solar panels and washing machines.
The Day the Trade War Actually Started
Most people forget that the "trade war" didn't start with steel or iPhones. It started with laundry and green energy. On that Monday in January 2018, the Trump administration announced "safeguard" tariffs under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Basically, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) had argued that a surge in cheap imports was "injuring" domestic companies like Whirlpool and various American solar manufacturers. Trump pulled the trigger. He slapped a 30% tariff on solar cells and modules and a graduated tariff on large residential washing machines that started at 20% for the first 1.2 million units and jumped to a massive 50% for anything beyond that.
It was a shock to the system. South Korea's Samsung and LG were the primary targets for the washers, while the solar move was a direct shot across the bow of the global renewable energy market, which China happened to dominate.
Setting the Stage in 2017
Honestly, the 2018 announcement didn't come out of thin air. If you look at the timeline, 2017 was the "investigation year."
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- April 20, 2017: Trump instructed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate whether steel imports threatened national security.
- August 14, 2017: He signed a memo directing the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to look into China's intellectual property practices.
So, while the announcement of the first physical tariffs happened in January 2018, the legal groundwork was being laid almost as soon as the moving trucks left the White House lawn in early 2017.
The Pivot to Steel and Aluminum
Once the seal was broken with washing machines, things escalated quickly. On March 1, 2018, during a meeting with industry executives, Trump went off-script and announced he would impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum.
This was different. It wasn't just about protecting one industry from a specific "surge." This was done under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, citing "national security."
The logic was simple: if we can't make our own steel, we can't make our own tanks. But the execution was messy. Initially, it applied to almost everyone—including allies like Canada, Mexico, and the EU. This led to frantic negotiations, temporary exemptions, and eventually, retaliatory taxes on American products like bourbon, cheese, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Why 2025 Changed the Context
Fast forward to today. In early 2025, we saw a much more aggressive version of this playbook. On his very first day in office—January 20, 2025—President Trump signaled he would move toward a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on China.
Unlike the 2018 actions, which were focused on protecting specific factories, the 2025 announcements were used as leverage for non-trade issues, specifically border security and the flow of fentanyl. On February 1, 2025, those tariffs on our North American neighbors actually went into effect via executive order, though they were paused shortly after following negotiations.
Common Misconceptions
You've probably heard someone say that "China pays the tariffs." That's a huge point of contention. In reality, a tariff is a tax collected by U.S. Customs at the border. The American company importing the goods—say, a local solar installer or a big-box retailer—pays the bill to the U.S. Treasury.
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Does the Chinese company lower its prices to compensate? Sometimes. But often, that cost just gets passed down to you at the checkout counter. Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that the 2018 tariffs were almost entirely passed through to U.S. consumers and firms.
Key Dates to Remember
- January 22, 2018: The first official tariff announcement (Solar/Washers).
- March 8, 2018: Trump formally signs the steel and aluminum tariffs.
- July 6, 2018: The first China-specific tariffs ($34 billion worth) take effect.
- January 20, 2025: The "Second Term" tariff threats begin on day one.
What This Means for You Now
Understanding the history of these announcements helps you navigate the current economic landscape. If you're a business owner or even just a consumer, the "announcement" is often just as important as the implementation because it triggers market volatility.
If you want to stay ahead of how these trade policies affect your wallet, you should track the USTR’s Federal Register notices. That's where the dry, legal reality of these "announcements" actually gets written into law. You can also monitor the Consumer Price Index (CPI) categories for "Major Appliances" and "Information Technology Commodities" to see if those costs are starting to creep up after a new round of trade talk.
Keep an eye on the official Presidential Proclamations page. When a president "announces" something on social media or in a speech, it doesn't always match the fine print of the legal order that follows a week later.