President Trump’s expanded reciprocal tariffs will not apply to any products loaded onto a vessel for transport into the US before 12:01 a.m. New York time on Thursday, according to guidance issued by US Customs and Border Protection. The notice outlines implementation of the tariffs Trump announced last week, which are expected to ratchet up levies on dozens of trading partners. Expected exemptions for products under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement negotiated by the president are included in the document, as are exemptions for relief items like food, clothing and medicine set to be distributed as aid. So is the president’s threatened penalty of a 40% tariff on goods deemed by the federal government to be transshipped to avoid country-specific duties. Taken together, the average US tariff rate will rise to 15.2%. That’s up from 13.3% earlier and significantly higher than the 2.3% in 2024.