How the US tariff war affects Hungarian companies?

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According to the US government, the countries affected by the “punitive tariffs” engage in unilateral or discriminatory trade practices, which justifies the introduction of a tariff level exceeding the general tariff against them. As a first step, a 10% general tariff was introduced on April 5, 2025, on all goods imported into the US, except for iron, steel and aluminum products and cars, which were subject to a 25% tariff. In the second step, differentiated tariff rates between 11-50% were determined for 57 countries.

In addition to the tariffs, the Trump administration will also eliminate a number of benefits, such as the exemption for goods under USD 800 originating from China and Hong Kong, as a further measure from May 2, 2025.

“Since all this also affects the European Union, Hungary – as a member of the EU customs union – cannot opt ​​out. Thus, it is also true for our country that, in accordance with the new provisions, in addition to the general 10 or 25% tariff, an additional 20% differentiated tariff rate would apply to all goods originating from the EU and exported to the USA,”

– says Henrik Bereznai, a lawyer at Jalsovszky.

The differentiated tariffs were to have been in place since April 9, 2025, but the Americans suspended their implementation for 90 days at the last minute – with the exception of one country: China, which now faces a total tariff of 145%, the sum of the previous and new tariffs (34%).

Following the suspension, the Trump administration diluted the measures even further on April 11, 2025: certain electronic goods – such as smartphones, computers, semiconductors, solar panels and memory cards – were also temporarily exempted from the tariffs. (The detailed list can be found at the following link: LINK.)

Due to the suspension, the differentiated tariffs are therefore not applicable for the time being – however, the 10% or, for example, 25% tariffs on the automotive industry are still in force.

Administrative Challenges

In any case, companies exporting to the US should exercise caution. In the application of US measures, it is a serious challenge to correctly determine the country of origin, as the US non-preferential rules of origin differ significantly from EU practice. For example, there is currently uncertainty about the method of recognizing certificates of origin accepted by the US customs service.

For this reason, it is definitely recommended to consult a US consultant if the product exported to the US “affects” several different countries and therefore requires further analysis to determine the country of origin.
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