Tariffs in the second Trump administration

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tariffs-in-the-second-trump-administration

1. What is the peak average applied US tariff rate?
2. What is the section 232 steel and aluminum tariff?
3. What are tariffs and why did President Trump increase them in his second term?
4. How high did the average U.S. tariff rate get in early 2025?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the peak average applied US tariff rate?Estimated at 27% (January-April 2025)
2. What is the section 232 steel and aluminum tariff?50%
3. What are tariffs and why did President Trump increase them in his second term?Tariffs are taxes on goods that come from other countries. Trump raised them to protect U.S. industries and encourage more products to be made in America.
4. How high did the average U.S. tariff rate get in early 2025?It jumped from 2.5% to 27% between January and April 2025, the highest level in more than a century.

Protectionism: Economic policy of restricting imports to protect domestic industries.
Trade Deficit: The excess of a country's imports over its exports.
IEEPA: International Emergency Economic Powers Act, granting broad presidential authority over international economic transactions.
De Minimis Exemption: A threshold below which imported goods are exempt from duties and taxes.