President Trump is in Asia this week meeting with several regional leaders, and we expect updates to tariff frameworks with many of these countries as a result. We’ve already seen some early developments we wanted to share:
Cambodia
A new agreement expands trade and investment opportunities while aligning Cambodia’s standards with US practices – highlights are:
- Tariffs & Quotas: Cambodia will eliminate duties on US industrial and agricultural goods, and the US will maintain the 19% tariff currently in place on goods from Cambodia
- Regulatory Barriers: Cambodia must accept US or international product standards without extra testing or licensing
- Agriculture: Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures must be science-based with no discriminatory restrictions on US food and agricultural products
- Digital Trade: There should be no digital-services taxes – free cross-border data flows – and a permanent moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions
- Customs: Within 5 years, Cambodia must implement paperless, pre-arrival, digital customs procedures
- Labor & Environment: The country must enact a ban on forced-labor goods and maintain labor and environmental protections
- National Security & Enforcement: There will be cooperation to prevent duty evasion, transshipment, and sanctions circumvention
- Investment: There should be open access for US companies in energy, infrastructure, and telecom with equal treatment to local investors
- Intellectual Property: The two countries will work toward stronger IP enforcement and treaty alignment
The agreement is aimed at simplifying compliance, improving digital and customs processes, and expanding protected market access for US exporters and importers. You can read the statement and see lists of affected products here.
China
Although not finalized, early reports indicate both countries intend toextend the tariff truce and avoid implementing the recently proposed 100% tariff rate. President Trump is scheduled to meet with President Xi on Thursday, when more details are expected.
Malaysia
The country has agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on nearly all goods from the USA, and has granted non-discriminatory market access for US agricultural and industrial goods. The US will maintain the 19% tariff currently in place. You can see the details here.
Vietnam
The framework of an agreement with Vietnam has been announced that keeps the current 20% reciprocal tariff level in place for now. The two sides are still negotiating on the items Vietnam will commit to offer preferential treatment on and which items the US may offer further reduced tariffs on too. The full statement is here.
Thailand
A framework agreement has also been reached here, and the countries will work to address tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the US will maintain the 19% tariff currently in place. The full statement is here.
In all cases, there will continue to be negotiations to identify items on the Annex III and Annex II list of exemptions for shipments from these countries. This will create an opportunity to reduce landed costs for products benefiting from a reduced or even eliminated reciprocal tariff rate. If you need to validate supplier country of origin or want to verify you product classifications, we’re here to help and ensure you can take advantage of these changes. Alba helps clients stay ahead of these changes by delivering:
- Real-Time Trade Intelligence
Our team continuously monitors updates to tariff frameworks, preferential trade programs, and Annex II/III exemption lists. We translate policy into practical action so you know exactly when and how to adjust sourcing or pricing strategies - Country-of-Origin & Classification Validation
We audit supplier origin data, HTS codes, and FTA eligibility to ensure you can take advantage of reduced or eliminated duties — while avoiding exposure to enforcement actions or transshipment penalties - Duty & Cost-Reduction Modeling
Using our proprietary analytics tools, we identify SKUs eligible for exclusions or lower reciprocal rates, helping you quantify landed-cost savings and protect your margin - Compliance Automation & Digital Customs Readiness
As countries like Cambodia and Malaysia move to paperless, pre-arrival systems, Alba helps modernize your data, documentation, and FSVP/ACE integration workflows — ensuring readiness for new digital-customs environments - Strategic Advisory for Executive & Trade Teams
We brief your leadership on the operational impact of policy changes
We can offer you a free consultation on how we can assist – simply contact us for more info.
Canada
On the negative side, a reaction to an ad the Canadian province of Ontario ran last week has resulted in President Trump announcing an additional 10% tariff to products originating from Canada. Full details aren’t available yet so we don’t know if this is on top of current reciprocal tariff levels, how it might affect USMCA goods, or when the update may be implemented.
EU Tariff Exclusions
Adding some positive news, a list of reciprocal tariff exclusions is now available for products originating from the EU – originally published in the Federal Register and with effect from September 25th, 2025. The list is wide-ranging with over 1000 HTS listed, including products in the following chapters:
- 07 Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers
- 08 Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons
- 09 Coffee, tea, maté and spices
- 25 Salt; sulfur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement
- 26 Ores, slag and ash
- 28 Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes
- 29 Organic chemicals
- 30 Pharmaceutical products
- 31 Fertilizers
- 32 Tanning or dyeing extracts; dyes, pigments, paints, varnishes, putty and mastics
- 33 Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations
- 34 Soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations, lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, prepared waxes, polishing or scouring preparations, candles and similar articles, modeling pastes, “dental waxes” and dental preparations with a basis of plaster
- 35 Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes
- 36 Explosives; pyrotechnic products; matches; pyrophoric alloys; certain combustible preparations
- 38 Miscellaneous chemical products
- 39 Plastics
- 40 Rubber
- 45 Cork and articles of cork
- 48 Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard
- 50 Silk
- 68 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar materials
- 70 Glass and glassware
- 71 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal and articles thereof; imitation jewelry; coin
- 72 Iron and steel
- 73 Articles of iron and steel
You can view the list here to see if your specific products are listed.
We will continue to monitor this situation and await the official implementation communication. If you have questions on this or any logistics topic, please contact your local office. for support.
