Trump says slapping 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea
25 percent tariff
on goods from Japan and South Korea starting 1 August. He posted letters to both leaders on his own social media platform.
In these near-identical letters, Trump argued the trade balance is 'unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.' For weeks, his administration warned that if no deals were reached by 9 July, the tariffs would stick. Now, the clock's ticking again. The new August deadline gives both countries three more weeks to strike a better bargain.
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Europe's last-minute hustle
While Japan and South Korea weigh their next move, Europe's scrambling too. The European Union insists progress has been made. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with Trump on Sunday and described it as a 'good exchange,' according to an EU spokesman in Brussels.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also got involved. Over the weekend, he held separate calls with Von der Leyen, and leaders in France and Italy, trying to figure out how to defuse the standoff. Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius didn't sugarcoat it: 'Time is running out… it's a complex matrix of factors that need to be taken into account.'
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A tariff stick for BRICS
Trump's tariffs aren't stopping with Japan and South Korea. He's ready to slap a fresh 10 percent tax on any country 'aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS.' No exemptions. That was his message on Truth Social, just as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were gathering in Rio for their summit.
After a few months of fragile truces, the threat of tariffs is back on the table and spooking investors. S&P 500 futures fell 0.5 percent. European stocks were flat. Asian markets dropped 0.7 percent.
The dollar, meanwhile, got a boost, up as much as 0.5 percent to a one-week high. Currencies tied to China's orbit — the Aussie and Kiwi dollars — both fell about 1 percent. Shorter-term US Treasuries ticked higher too, as risk appetite slipped.
'A Lot of Congestion' as Deadlines Shift
So, where does this all land? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted the rush of negotiations is 'a lot of congestion going into the home stretch.' He told Fox News that 18 major trading partners are on his radar. Some big deals might land soon, but the sheer volume of talks is slowing everything down.
'If you want to speed things up, have at it,' he said on CNN, daring countries to move quickly. He refused to nail down 1 August as a hard deadline, leaving it hanging in the air.
Stocks Shudder and Musk Picks a Fight
Wall Street didn't take the uncertainty well. On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.9 percent, the Dow off by 526 points, and the Nasdaq slid 1 percent. The selling was broad — three decliners for every gainer on the New York Stock Exchange.
Tesla dropped 6.8 percent. Over the weekend, Elon Musk reignited his feud with Trump, threatening to form a third party to protest a Republican spending bill. A falling out between two big egos with real market consequences.
A Taste of What's to Come
Trump's tariff muscle-flexing doesn't stop at threats. Just last week, he struck a deal with Vietnam that slashes a proposed 46 percent tax down to 20 percent, letting US goods into Vietnam duty-free. Jason Pride at Glenmede reckons this deal might become a blueprint for other countries with big trade surpluses with the US.
For now, the market mood is twitchy. Oracle fell 1.2 percent, Chipotle dipped 1.8 percent, and Molina Healthcare trimmed its profit forecast as costs soared. UnitedHealth already sounded the alarm in April for the same reason.
Oil, Crypto and the Fed in the Mix
In the background, oil prices moved up after OPEC+ agreed to boost production in August by 548,000 barrels a day. US crude rose 1.2 percent. Brent crude gained 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile, CoreWeave's nine billion dollar buyout of crypto miner Core Scientific raised eyebrows. Shares in Core Scientific dropped 16.1 percent. CoreWeave slipped 2.5 percent.
There's not much else on the economic calendar this week. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its last policy meeting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he wants to see how tariffs feed into inflation before touching interest rates. Cutting rates could help the economy but risks fuelling inflation if Trump's tariffs push prices higher.
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