
Trump tariff deadline extended as new threats issued to BRICS states
The 90-day pause on country-specific taxes on US imports was due to end on Wednesday, but instead will expire on 1 August, the Trump administration said.
The US president's signature economic policy of tariffs meant countries across the world were hit with individual tariffs, causing havoc with international trade.
But Mr Trump appeared to be in deal-making mode early Monday, posting on his social media network, Truth Social, that countries would receive "letters and/or deals" from 5pm UK time.
However, he also made an additional threat of an extra 10% tariff for "any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS".
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) organisation of countries also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Reaction has been far more muted than the big market moves when the country-specific tariffs were announced on 2 April's "Liberation Day" announcement, but the news has not been welcomed.
1:42
Many major stock indexes in Asia closed down, while the UK's benchmark index of 100 most valuable London Stock Exchange-listed firms, the FTSE 100, fell around 0.1% on the open.
BRICS members India saw its NIFTY 50 index fall 0.1%, China saw its Shenzhen Component shed 0.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.23%.
The Shanghai Composite, however, was up 0.02%.
Based on pre-market trading, US stocks look set to open down.
Deals
While the UK reached an agreement with the US to circumvent the worst of tariffs, many of the world's largest economies are yet to strike a deal.
The European Union, India, Japan and Canada have yet to reach an agreement.
An agreement with China, the world's second biggest economy, has held despite allegations of deal-breaking on both sides.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE SJP investment boss warns US risk profile has 'fundamentally changed'
St James's Place has cut exposure to US stocks within its £16.4billion Polaris 4 fund as the wealth manager becomes increasingly wary of the world's biggest market. US stocks have endured a rollercoaster 2025 after rebounding from heavy losses suffered in the wake of President Donald Trump's 'liberation day' trade tariffs. 'It's difficult to argue that US equities aren't riskier today than they were in the past,' Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at St. James's Place, told This is Money. 'This isn't about trying to call the top of the market. It's about acknowledging that the risk profile of US equities has fundamentally changed. 'If an investor's risk appetite hasn't shifted, it's hard to justify allocating more to an increasingly concentrated and expensive market.' The wealth manager has shifted its exposure away from the US, and now holds underweight positions across the board. SJP said its underweight position is consistent in all of its portfolios. For its Polaris 4 fund, part of its flagship Polaris range, this means shifting to a 15 per cent underweight position in US equities. SJP said this is a deviation equivalent to as much as £2.4billion compared with a market-cap weighted global benchmark. The fund holds a 48 per cent weighting towards the US. Though still significant, this compares to a 66 per cent weighting held by the MSCI ACWI index. Onuekwusi said: 'The US remains our single largest regional equity allocation. But given current valuations and concentration, we believe a more balanced, risk-conscious allocation is appropriate.' Polaris 4 instead holds a significantly higher allocation to Europe and the UK, at 18 per cent and nine per cent respectively, compared with 13 per cent and three per cent for the MSCI ACWI. Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at St. James's Place, says US equities are riskier today than they have been in the past Onuekwusi says the risk associated with the US market has changed, and as a result it is 'justify allocating more to an increasingly concentrated and expensive market', if an investor's risk appetite hasn't shifted. He added that the lower weighting towards the US is 'not just due to political uncertainty', but 'a combination of market concentration and stretched valuations across many US companies'. High valuations in the US market, which accounts for two-thirds of global stocks, has been a topic of market concern for some time. This week chip giant Nvidia surpassed $4trillion in market cap, meaning that it is worth all of the UK's publicly listed firms combined. 'The top 10 US stocks now represent more than a third of the US market, the highest level of concentration in over 60 years,' Onuekwusi said. 'Despite some recent sector reclassifications, such as Amazon moving from Technology to Consumer Discretionary, the index remains heavily tech-oriented, reminiscent of late-1990s market dynamics. 'We are positioning away from US mega-cap stocks in favour of a more balanced exposure to large and small caps - a consistent stance across Polaris 1 through 4.' The magnificent seven companies, that is Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla, currently accounts for almost 34 per cent of the S&P 500's total value. Onuekwusi added: 'Over the past 18 months, while maintaining our US underweight, we have shifted our overweight from Emerging Markets into a broader allocation across the UK and Europe. This repositioning has helped add resilience, particularly during periods of tariff-related uncertainty and in the subsequent recovery.' He added: 'Our decision to underweight US equities in Polaris 4 reflects a belief that more compelling risk-adjusted opportunities currently lie outside the US markets. Both our medium-term asset allocation and our bottom-up analysis - driven by our primarily active manager lineup - point to stronger prospects in regions such as Europe, the UK, Japan, and Emerging Markets, where we are currently overweight. Combined with the US' higher concentration in global markets, is the large valuations many US equities are exhibiting. Onuekwusi says valuations are reaching the levels seen during the dotcom bubble, highlighting concerns over their future. Nvidia, for example, is currently operating on a price to earnings ratio of 32.8, while Amazon is at 32.9 and Tesla operates at an eye watering PE ratio of 132.6. He said: 'Investors are paying a premium for future earnings growth, which reduces the margin for error. If that growth doesn't materialise, share prices become more vulnerable to correction. The higher the valuation, the less cushion there is against disappointment.'


The Herald Scotland
29 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump teases 'major statement' on Russia amid new attacks on Ukraine
Trump on Thursday told NBC News that he's "disappointed in Russia" as he addressed the status of the Russia-Ukraine war, which has raged for more than three years. He added, "But we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks." "I think I'll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday," Trump said, declining to elaborate. More: Trump escalates criticism of Putin, rearms Ukraine, as Russia's war plows on Trump on Wednesday gave his bluntest assessment yet of Putin. "We get a lot of bulls--t thrown at us from Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. "He's very nice all the time but it turns out to be meaningless." "We're not happy with Putin, I'm not happy with Putin, I can tell you that much right now. Because he's killing a lot of people. And a lot of them are his soldiers," Trump said. Unmoved by Trump's criticism, Russia on Thursday launched a new wave of attacks that targeted Kyiv with some 400 drones and missiles. Earlier in the week, Trump overturned a Pentagon decision to withhold some weapons shipments to Ukraine. More: Trump rips Putin, says Russian leader 'killing a lot of people' in Ukraine Trump discussed details of the weapons arrangement with NBC. "We're sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%. So what we're doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons." More: 'We have to': Trump sending weapons to Ukraine after expressing disappointment with Putin Trump has long said he is considering imposing new sanctions on Russia but has held off on taking action. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, a Trump ally, is pushing legislation that would target Russia with substantial new sanctions. Since returning to the White House in January for his second term, Trump has pinned equal blame on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for prolonging a war started by Russia. But in recent weeks, Trump has expressed impatience with Putin as U.S. efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal haven't gained traction. Trump said in late May that Putin was "playing with fire" and had gone "absolutely crazy," as he speculated that Russia wants to lay claim to all of Ukraine. The next month he said the war had been "more difficult" to resolve than other conflicts and called Putin "misguided." Contributing: Francesca Chambers of USA TODAY Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.


The Herald Scotland
29 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Here's when parts of "Big Beautiful Bill" will affect your finances
USA TODAY's got you covered. Here are some of the bill's tax and spending highlights most Americans want to know about and when they start and finish, if they do. Some provisions are permanent. We cover everything from no tax on overtime and tips, auto loan interest deductions, senior deductions, Trump accounts, charitable contributions to the child tax credit, 529 expansion, tax brackets, standard deductions and state and local property taxes (SALT). Our version is much smaller than 870 pages. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. When key provisions will start in Trump's new tax and spending law Some of the provisions in the law essentially start at the beginning of 2025. Others don't begin until 2026. Some begin this year, but only last through 2029. Here are all the provisions that could affect your finances in the coming weeks and months: CONTRIBUTING Janet Loehrke/USA TODAY This story was updated to add new information.