US average tariffs hit highest level in over a century: WTO, IMF

The average US tariff rate has climbed to 20.1 percent, marking its highest point since the early 1910s—excluding a brief spike earlier this year—according to data released Friday by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

When Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, the average US tariff stood at just 2.4 percent. A series of tariff hikes, particularly targeting Chinese imports, pushed that figure sharply higher. On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on key trading partners, and by May, the rate briefly surged to 24.8 percent—a level not seen since 1904, US International Trade Commission data shows.

A temporary trade truce between Washington and Beijing later eased tariff levels, but that agreement is set to expire next week.

The latest WTO and IMF figures account for recently implemented trade agreements between the US and partners including the European Union, Japan, and South Korea. These deals reduced tariffs from Trump’s initial threats but kept them well above the pre-2018 baseline of 10 percent.

Applied to 2024 trade volumes, the new rate surpasses the nearly 20 percent tariffs of the 1930s—an era many economists blame for deepening the Great Depression.