If you’ve bought a toaster, a laptop, or even a pair of sneakers lately, you’ve likely felt the ghost of a trade war in your wallet. Honestly, trying to keep track of the trade relationship between the U.S. and China is like trying to map a hurricane while you're standing in the middle of it. By the time 2025 rolled around, the landscape of what were the tariffs on China before 2025 had become a massive, tangled web of "Section 301" lists and "Section 232" penalties that changed how everything from steel to syringes flowed into the country.
Most folks think the tariffs were just one big "tax" that started in 2018 and stayed the same. It’s way more complicated than that. You’ve got two different administrations—Trump and then Biden—each adding their own layers to the cake.
The 2018 Explosion: Where the Lists Began
Everything basically kicked off in early 2018. The Trump administration used an old tool called Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. They argued that China was playing dirty with intellectual property—basically forcing American companies to hand over their secrets to do business there.
It wasn't a single hit. It was a rollout.
First came List 1 in July 2018. It hit $34 billion worth of stuff at a 25% rate. We’re talking industrial machinery, electronics, and various "nerdy" factory components most people never see. Then List 2 dropped in August, another $16 billion. By September, List 3 arrived, and that was the big one: $200 billion worth of goods. This time, it hit closer to home—furniture, seafood, and luggage.
By the time 2019 wrapped up, we had List 4A, which finally brought things like clothes and shoes into the crosshairs. For a minute there, a huge chunk of Chinese imports faced an average tariff of around 21%, compared to the tiny 3% average before the fight started.
The Biden Era: Same Script, New Chapters
When the administration changed in 2021, a lot of people expected the tariffs to vanish. They didn't. In fact, for a few years, it was mostly quiet until 2024. That’s when the Biden administration finished a massive four-year review of those Section 301 tariffs.
Instead of backing off, they doubled down.
Specifically, they targeted "strategic sectors." If you were looking at an electric vehicle (EV) from China in late 2024, the tariff rate skyrocketed to a whopping 100%. Solar cells went to 50%. Lithium-ion batteries? 25%.
The Real Numbers Before the 2025 Shift
To give you an idea of the sheer scale, here is how the landscape looked just as 2024 was closing out.
- Electric Vehicles: 100% (Up from 25%)
- Solar Cells: 50% (Up from 25%)
- Syringes and Needles: 100% (Added in 2024 to protect medical supplies)
- Semiconductors: 50% (Scheduled to hit by 2025)
- Steel and Aluminum: 25% (A mix of Section 301 and Section 232 "national security" tariffs)
It wasn't just the U.S. doing the hitting, either. China hit back at every turn. They targeted American farmers, specifically soybeans and pork, which really hurt the Midwest. It was a game of "you hit my tech, I'll hit your crops."
The "De Minimis" Loophole Nobody Noticed
Here is something kinda wild that most people ignored until recently. For years, there was this thing called the "de minimis" rule. Basically, if a package was worth less than $800, it could enter the U.S. duty-free. No tariffs.
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This is how companies like Shein and Temu grew so fast. They weren't shipping big containers; they were shipping millions of tiny individual packages. By the end of 2024, the government realized this was basically a massive "get out of tariffs free" card. Before the 2025 policy shifts, this was the primary way Chinese goods were still getting into American homes without the 25% price hike.
Why the Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Were Different
While the Section 301 stuff was about "unfair trade," the Section 232 tariffs were about "national security." Back in 2018, the argument was that if the U.S. can’t make its own steel, it can’t build tanks or bridges. So, a 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminum was slapped on almost everyone, but China was the main target because they produced so much of it so cheaply.
Even when some allies (like the EU or Japan) got deals to skip these tariffs, China remained under the thumb of these penalties right up until the start of 2025.
What This Meant for Your Wallet
Honestly, the "who pays" question is the most misunderstood part. A common misconception is that China "pays" the tariff to the U.S. Treasury. Nope. The American company importing the goods—the retailer or the manufacturer—pays the tax.
They have three choices:
- Eat the cost and take lower profits.
- Find a new supplier in Vietnam or Mexico (which many did).
- Raise the price for you.
Research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and the U.S. International Trade Commission consistently showed that while these tariffs helped some U.S. factories, they cost the average household hundreds of dollars a year in higher prices for household goods.
Actionable Insights for Navigating Trade Shifts
If you're a business owner or a consumer trying to figure out how to handle the legacy of these trade barriers, here is the reality:
- Diversify your "Made in" tags: If you’re sourcing products, the "China + 1" strategy is no longer optional. You need a backup in Southeast Asia or Latin America.
- Watch the HTS Codes: Tariff rates are determined by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes. Sometimes a tiny change in a product's design can move it from a 25% tariff category to a 0% one.
- Audit your supply chain for "De Minimis": With the 2025 crackdown on small packages, if your business model relies on shipping $20 items directly from China, you need to calculate for a 30% to 50% cost increase immediately.
The story of what were the tariffs on China before 2025 isn't just about politics; it’s a story of how the world's two biggest economies tried to untangle themselves after decades of being joined at the hip. It’s messy, it’s expensive, and as we’ve seen, it’s far from over.