It's Liberation Day III - and from today, dozens of countries will face painful Trump tariffs
From today, countries without bilateral trade agreements face reciprocal tariffs - ranging from 25% to 50% - with a baseline of 15% to 20% for any not making a deal.
He has delayed twice, from April to July and from July to August, but hammered this date home in his trademark caps-on style: "THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED. A BIG DAY FOR AMERICA!!!"
"Will not be extended" for anyone but Mexico, it seems. The country secured a 90-day extension at the last minute, with Mr Trump citing the "complexities" of the border.
2:02
By close of business on the eve of deadline, he had a handful of framework deals - some significant - including the UK (10%), the EU, Japan and South Korea (15%), Indonesia and the Philippines (19%), Vietnam (20%).
On the EU agreement, which he struck in Scotland, the president said: "It's a very powerful deal, it's a big deal, it's the biggest of all the deals."
The short answer is they were replaced by letters of instruction to pay a tariff set by the US.
8:45
Amid of flurry of late activity, the US played hardball with major trading partners like Canada.
"For the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," said US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick - the "rest of the world" meaning everyone but China.
There is, apparently, the "framework of a deal" between the world's two largest economies, but talks between Washington and Beijing are continuing.
4:34
In terms of wins, he can claim some significant deals and point to his tariffs having generated an impressive $27bn (£20.4bn) in June, not bad for a single month.
But the legality of the approach is under siege - with the US Court of International Trade ruling that the "Liberation Day" tariffs exceeded the president's authority, with enforcement paused pending appeal.
The deadline has stirred the pot, forcing a handful of deals onto the table. Whether they stick or survive legal scrutiny is far from settled.
But the playbook remains the same - threaten the world with trade chaos, whittle it down, celebrate the wins, and pray no one checks what's legal.
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Tesla Model Y review: Long overdue revamp fails to address the world's favourite EV's main flaws
There have certainly been better years for Tesla, and scarcely a day goes by without more doomslaying for the electric car maker founded in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk became the company's largest shareholder in 2004 and chief executive in 2008. In 22 years, the company has become a phenomenon, with growth partly fuelled by the undoubted virtuosity of its cars, but also profits driven by environmental grants and CO2 trading with traditional car makers. Tesla has seen whopping share-value growth and made life-changing amounts for its investors, which perhaps also fuels the fan-boy hype. One estimate suggested that $1,000 invested in 2010 would now be worth almost $270,000 (£203,000), and in February this year Tesla's worth exceeded one trillion US dollars. Where rival car manufacturers have been worthy-but-dull investments, Tesla took off like a SpaceX rocket, at times the 11th and then the sixth most valuable company in the world. Then there's the Preston Tucker -like hucksterism of Musk, adored as a visionary engineer and rainmaker by some, loathed by others for his grant-aid grabbing and Bitcoin-investments hypocrisy, his toadying up to President Trump, his bullying behaviour and vote-buying in Wisconsin, among others. Oh, and that straight-arm salute at Trump's inauguration… Backlash against Musk The backlash has been a while coming, but it has been furious, with the share price tumbling by 10 per cent at the time of writing, sales plummeting, pickets around North American dealerships and the questioning of Musk's Panglossian announcements, which increasingly fail to materialise. As rivals including Waymo, Volkswagen and others take the lead in self-driving cars; established car makers and the Chinese catch up with the EV revolution just at a time when the public becomes disenchanted with them; and Trump halts the EV grants that have been so crucial to Tesla's success. Investors are questioning Musk's commitment to Tesla, and even he admits that it's a 'rocky road ahead'. As for the Model Y, Tesla's SUV mainstay and in 2023 the world's best-selling car, a revamp earlier this year hasn't exactly been a runaway success. In the first six months of this year, Tesla's European market share plummeted from 2.4 per cent to 1.6 per cent, and sales of the Model Y, while still the best-selling BEV in Europe, were about 50 per cent down in the first five months, although they picked up in June. Current owners speak out While I was waiting for a Tesla Supercharger at a motorway service station, the owner of a current Model Y came up to talk. 'Is that the new Y?' he asked. 'How's it going?' He assailed me with his car's issues: software glitches, patchy build quality, terrible ride quality, uncomfortable seats, poor dealer servicing – along with massive depreciation, after Tesla dropped the price of the Model Y by up to £8,000 in January 2023. This is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it revamp; a blade-type front light bar and a shuffling of panel gaps at the rear to make repairs simpler and cheaper. It has the same steel and aluminium bodyshell but it is more aerodynamic. The suspension consists of front wishbones, with a multi-link rear and passive damping. Yet overall the Model Y is still weirdly dumpy, with a mysteriously high, bowed roofline. Our test car had £2,100-worth of 20in wheels (the standard items are 19in), £1,300 for the white paint (now a priced option – only black and grey are standard) and the £3,400 enhanced Auto Pilot system, all of which takes the price from the standard £48,990 to £55,790 on the road. Business contracts, which are where many of these cars are sold, start at £531 per month for a three-year/8,000 miles-a-year deal. Competition, which when the Model Y was launched five years ago was scant, is now myriad. So think of the Skoda Enyaq, Polestar 4, BYD Sealion 7, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV9 or Renault Scenic E-Tech – and that's before you get to the Germans. Inside information Using the credit card-sized key or a programmed mobile phone, opening the car requires a tap in an unmarked place on the driver's side centre pillar. The interior resembles a Hollywood version of an evil computer boss's office, stark with grey and matt black fabrics, along with plastics interspersed with aluminium. Warm and welcoming it is not. With acoustic glass all round, the sound-deadening is eerie and your ears pop with the pressure change as the doors shut. Accommodation is generous, with copious leg and head room front and rear, although the front seats are mounted quite high. It only has five seats; there's no word yet on whether the AWD Long Range will get a seven-seat option as before. 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Reuters
13 minutes ago
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Asia-US sea freight rates set to extend declines amid tariff chaos
SINGAPORE, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Asia-U.S. sea freight rates are set to drop further in 2025 as shipping capacity outpaces demand and trade routes shift due to tariffs and geopolitical tensions, though vessel rerouting is expected to limit some losses, industry experts said. Average spot rates for containers from Asia to the U.S. west and east coasts have slumped by 58% and 46%, respectively, since June 1 and are expected to fall further, according to shipping analytics firm Xeneta. Adding to uncertainty are unresolved trade talks between the U.S. and China. Officials from the world's top two economies last week agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce. The China-U.S. trade lane remains one of the most profitable for container ship operators. Sea freight saw a brief uptick in late May and early June as shippers took advantage of a 90-day pause in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, but rates quickly fell as capacity outweighed demand, Xeneta data showed. "There is significant overcapacity globally and this will continue to shape the market," said Erik Devetak, Xeneta's chief technology and data officer. "China-to-U.S. trade is dampened and the EU economy is not exactly hot, so blanked sailings and cancellations will become a recurring theme as carriers desperately try to keep freight rates up," Devetek said. Blanked sailing refers to cancelled port calls or voyages. Logistics major DHL noted that spot rates, which rose in the early summer surge of traffic from Asia to North America, have since reversed. "Carriers rushed to add capacity on the transpacific to chase early gains, but oversupply is becoming apparent as the momentum fades," said Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. Jarl Milford, maritime analyst at Veson Nautical, expects rates to decline steadily in the second half when more vessels are expected to enter the market. "Ongoing uncertainty, including tariff policy and slowing global demand, adds continued pressure," Milford said. Ocean Network Express, a joint venture between Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (9107.T), opens new tab, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.T), opens new tab and Nippon Yusen (9101.T), opens new tab, said last week that "recent trade uncertainties further complicate visibility for the latter half of the fiscal year". A key factor helping absorb some of the excess capacity, however, is the rerouting of vessels from traditional sailings. Carriers are diverting from the Red Sea following attacks by Yemeni Houthis, and some are bypassing U.S. ports to avoid tariffs. These longer voyages are soaking up more ships and helping provide a floor for rates, analysts said. "These diversions continue to soak up in excess of 10% of containership supply, leading capacity utilization to a healthy level in the 86-87% range," analysts at Jefferies Research wrote, referring to the Red Sea. And while China's exports to the U.S. have fallen, shipments elsewhere have climbed. Jefferies analysts said spot bookings to the U.S. in recent weeks suggest July volumes are likely to be down, pushing transpacific freight rates to their lowest this year, but rates to markets such as Europe and Latin America remain elevated.
