US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners, including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline, pressing ahead with plans to reorder the global economy.
Trump set rates including a 35 per cent duty on many goods from Canada, 50pc for Brazil, 25pc for India, 20pc for Taiwan and 39pc for Switzerland, according to a presidential executive order.
The order listed higher import duty rates of 10pc to 41pc starting in seven days for 69 trading partners as the 12.01am deadline approached.
Some of them had reached tariff-reducing deals while others had no opportunity to negotiate. Trump included an exception for some goods shipped within the coming week.
Goods from all other countries not listed would face a 10pc US import tax. Trump had previously said that rate might be higher. The administration also teased that more trade deals were in the pipeline as it seeks to close trade deficits and boost domestic factories.
The Republican president has tapped emergency powers, pressured foreign leaders, and pressed ahead with trade policies that sparked a market sell-off when they were first announced in April.
US federal appeals court judges on Thursday questioned Trump’s use of the emergency powers to justify his tariffs of up to 50pc on nearly all trading partners.
Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare an emergency over the growing US trade deficit and impose his “reciprocal” tariffs and a separate fentanyl emergency.
Asian shares were headed for the worst week since April yesterday after the tariffs were announced.
European stocks hit a three-week low yesterday as investors focused on the impact of the new tariffs. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell around 1pc in early trading, down for the third straight session and on track to end the week in red
Trump’s tariff rollout comes amid more evidence they have begun driving up consumer goods prices.
US Commerce Department data released Thursday showed prices for home furnishings and durable household equipment jumped 1.3pc in June, the biggest gain since March 2022.
Recreational goods and vehicles prices shot up 0.9pc, the most since February 2024. Prices for clothing and footwear rose 0.4pc.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said the new 20pc tariff rate for the island was “temporary “ and that he expected to reach a lower figure.
South Africa’s Trade Minister Parks Tau said he was seeking “real, practical interventions” to defend jobs and the economy against the 30pc US tariff it faces.
Trump’s order said some trading partners, “despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters.”
Other details are still to come, including on the ‘rules of origin’ that will determine what products might face even higher tariffs.
Trump issued a separate order for Canada that raises the rate on Canadian goods subject to fentanyl-related tariffs to 35pc, from 25pc previously, saying Canada had “failed to cooperate” in curbing illicit narcotics flows into the US
The higher tariffs on Canadian goods contrasted sharply with Trump’s decision to grant Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30pc on many goods to allow time to negotiate a broader trade pact.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was disappointed by Trump’s decision, and vowed to take action to protect Canadian jobs and diversify exports.
“While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,” he said in a post on X.
The extension for Mexico avoids a 30pc tariff on most Mexican non-automotive and non-metal goods compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade and came after a Thursday call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
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