New Tariffs Hit Friday
Starting August 1: President Donald Trump will likely impose another round of tariffs, with rates up to 50 percent, on Friday.
Some of these rates were announced on “Liberation Day” in April, then paused for 90 days until July 1, then paused another month, possibly to give countries more time to negotiate deals. To make matters more confusing, some countries have negotiated a later effective-by date (like China, which will incur new tariff levels starting August 12).
Some deals seem pretty set: “European capitals are putting a brave face on the trade deal they struck with President Donald Trump, which will see the European Union accept a 15% tariff on most of its exports to the US while reducing levies on some American products to zero,” reports Bloomberg. But, of course, this is somewhat worse than the status quo before Trump took office: Trade barriers between the E.U. and U.S. were…next to nonexistent, so the 15 percent tariff only looks good if you’re anchored by Trump’s threats.
Trump also recently announced tariff rates with Indonesia (19 percent) and Japan (15 percent, which also applies to auto imports and is lower than the 25 percent auto import rates he announced in April that apply to other countries). But, truth be told, the rates you are likely to feel the most are those imposed on major trading partners China (30 percent), Canada (35 percent), and Mexico (30 percent).
“White House officials say the rates would apply to imports from the two countries that are not covered under a trade deal that Mr. Trump signed during his first term. But the president’s aides have cautioned that a decision on the matter is not final,” reports The New York
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