Dozens of countries scramble to cope with latest wave of Trump trade tariffs
Trump's latest blitz triggered a wave of market jitters and fears for jobs in some of the poorest countries, as tariff rates were signed off ranging from 50% to 10%.
There was a minor reprieve that opened the door to further negotiations, after the White House said the updated tariffs would take effect on 7 August, not on Friday, the deadline previously set by Trump.
The new rates, which Trump sees as benefiting US exporters, create uncertainty for dozens of countries, including longtime US allies. It has also raised fears of inflation in the US.
Rates were set at 25% for India's US-bound exports, 20% for Taiwan and 30% for South Africa. Switzerland faces a rate of 39%. The deadline for a tariff deal with Mexico was extended by another 90 days.
Stock markets fell on both sides of the Atlantic, after earlier falls in Asia, amid investors fears about the impact on the global economy. Europe's Stoxx 600 was down nearly 2% while the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.8%. Wall Street opened lower, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all down more than 1% by late morning in New York. The sell-off was exacerbated by weaker than expected jobs figures in the US.
Switzerland and chip powerhouse Taiwan are scrambling to negotiate deals after being hit with a 39% rate, one of the highest in the world, and 20% respectively.
Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, said his government was 'disappointed' by Trump's decision to increase US tariffs on Canadian goods from 25% to 35% – with immediate effect – on the grounds it had failed to crack down on fentanyl and to increase border security.
South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa said he would use the week to 'negotiate as strongly and as hard as we can' and drive down a crippling 30% duty on goods.
Some of the world's poorest and struggling countries were hit with punitive rates, including Syria, which faces a levy of 41%.
Laos and Myanmar were hammered with rates of 40%; Libya, 30%; Iraq, 35% and Sri Lanka 20%. Would-be EU member states were left blindsided by punitive rates: Moldova 25%, Serbia 35% and Bosnia and Herzogovina30%.
There was some reprieve for Lesotho, a country that Trump described a state that 'nobody has ever heard of' when halting USAid. It was facing 50% tariffs, an existential threat to its textile industry but came out on Friday with a 15% rate.
Lesotho's $2bn economy is heavily dependent on duty-free exports to the US. The tiny African country declared a national state of disaster after the 50% rate was declared.
The Swiss franc touched its weakest in six week after the country was blindsided with one of the highest tariffs in the world, 39%, while the Canadian dollar was set for a seventh straight weekly loss with tariffs going from 25% to 35% amid Trump's unhappiness with Carney's plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss president, who was celebrating the country's national day, said that she had spoken with Trump on Thursday but that 'no agreement could be reached'.
Pharma accounts for 50% of Swiss exports to the US which may have been Trump's target.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said Switzerland got the rough end of Trump's trade war.
'The Swiss rate was a shock, and the Swiss government have said that they plan to keep negotiating with the US to secure a lower levy. Chocolatiers, watchmakers and pharma companies are all under threat,' she said.
Conspicuous as the only two trading partners listed at a 10% rate were the UK, the first to get a deal with Trump, and the Falkland Islands.
The EU's 15% tariff rate as a single all inclusive rate was confirmed in the executive order.
In a set back to the EU, cars were left out in the executive order. They are currently being taxed at 27.5% with many EU car companies resuming deliveries to customers in the US after last Sunday's deal with Trump.
The new specific rates will apply seven days after the date of the executive order starting 8 August. For goods already in transit or warehoused for consumption before 8 August, the previous tariff rate (10% + MFN rate) will apply until 5 October 2025.
Pharmaceuticals were also conspicuous by their absence, given the White House said it had agreed a 15% rate on Monday, hours after Trump sealed the deal with the EU at his Scottish golf course.
Pharma chiefs, who have been in Trump's crosshairs for months, were warned to reduce their prices to US patients by the US president. If they refused to step up, the federal government would 'deploy every tool' in its arsenal to protect American families, the White House said.
Brazil's tariff rate was set at 10%, but a previous order placed a 40% tariff on to punish the country for prosecuting its former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Cambodia appeared to be close to reaching a deal after it said it would drop all tariffs on imports from the US and order up to 20 Boeing 737s.
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The Independent
41 minutes ago
- The Independent
ICE turned Louisiana into America's deportation capital. The inspiration was Amazon and FedEx ‘with human beings'
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Since Trump returned to the White House, more than 20,000 people en route to other detention centers have passed through the Louisiana facility — which ICE officials have long aspired to operate like corporate giants FedEx and Amazon. ICE's acting director Todd Lyons has bluntly compared the movement of people to packages. 'We need to get better at treating this like a business, where this mass deportation operation is something like you would see and say, like, Amazon trying to get your Prime delivery within 24 hours,' Lyons told a law enforcement conference in Phoenix earlier this year. 'So, trying to figure out how to do that with human beings,' he said. The idea of 'running the government like a business' has taken root inside ICE over the last decade with lucrative public-private partnerships between the federal government and for-profit contractors, which operate roughly 90 percent of all ICE detention centers. 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BreakingNews.ie
42 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
'It is a terrible deal': UCD economist says EU was 'robbed' in US negotiations
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Telegraph
42 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Why Britain faces a bigger Trump tariff blow than no-deal Canada
Britain is facing a bigger hit from Donald Trump's tariffs than Canada, despite Sir Keir Starmer's trade deal with the US. Goods exported from the UK to the US are charged an average tariff rate of 9.3pc, while the average rate charged on goods from Canada is just 9pc, according to data from Capital Economics. The findings come after the US president singled out Canada as he launched a sweeping tariff blitz last week, imposing a 35pc levy on its North American neighbour. Meanwhile, Britain has secured a rate of 10pc, the lowest levy in a trade deal secured by any nation. However, experts said the reality was less favourable for the UK. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said: '10pc suggests we got the best deal, but actually if you dig underneath it, in some areas that is not the case.' This is because the headline 35pc tariff only applies to Canada's exports that are not compliant with the pre-existing United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). This exempts goods that originate in North America, which make up around 90pc of Canada's goods exports to the US. Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said: 'This increase in the tariff rate is not really a big deal for the Canadian economy, even though the optics look bad.' Mr Trump last week said Canada had 'failed to cooperate' on curbing the trade of fentanyl, and criticised the retaliatory tariffs Canada has imposed on the US. Canada had been pushed hard for a deal with 11th-hour lobbying in Washington. However, its prime minister, Mark Carney, angered Mr Trump after he said the country would join the UK in recognising a Palestinian state. Canada's steel, aluminium and car exports to the US are still subject to Mr Trump's respective sectoral tariffs of 50pc and 25pc, but there are exemptions for USMCA-compliant car parts. Under the terms of the UK trade deal, Sir Keir secured a quota of 100,000 cars that would be subject to tariffs of only 10pc, instead of 25pc. But the UK has so far been unable to secure an exemption from Mr Trump's sectoral tariffs on steel and aluminium, though the rate for Britain has been fixed at 25pc instead of 50pc. Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said last week he was optimistic that Britain will be able to get this 25pc tariff lifted. A government spokesman said: 'Thanks to our landmark trade deal with the US, the UK is now the only country in the world to have secured a 10pc tariff for car exports, the only country not paying the 50pc global tariff on steel and aluminium, as well as receiving the lowest reciprocal tariff rate of 10pc. 'We will continue to work with the US to get this deal implemented as soon as possible to give industry the security they need, protect vital jobs, and put more money in people's pockets through the Plan for Change.' The UK's effective tariff rate is lower than the headline 10pc rate because some key goods, such as pharmaceuticals, have so far been exempted from tariffs. Although Canada's effective tariff rate is lower than the UK's, Mr Trump's tariffs are likely to have a bigger impact on Canada because its exports to the US make up a much larger share of its economy.
