U.S. administration slaps steep tariffs on dozens more countries

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on imports from dozens of trading partners, including Canada, Brazil and India, ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline.

Trump set rates including a 35 percent duty on many goods from Canada, 50 percent for Brazil, 25 percent for India and 39 percent for Switzerland, according to a presidential executive order.

The order listed higher import duty rates of 10 percent to 41 percent starting in seven days for 69 trading partners as the 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) 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 10 percent U.S. 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.

Reaction from judges and markets 

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.

U.S. federal appeals court judges on Thursday questioned Trump's use of the emergency powers to justify his tariffs of up to 50 percent on nearly all trading partners.

Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare an emergency over the growing U.S. trade deficit and impose his "reciprocal" tariffs and a separate fentanyl emergency.

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.

After Friday’s tariffs were announced, Asian shares headed for their worst week since April and European stocks hit a three-week low. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell around 1 percent 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.

U.S. Commerce Department data released Thursday showed prices for home furnishings and durable household equipment jumped 1.3 percent in June, the biggest gain since March 2022.

Recreational goods and vehicles prices shot up 0.9 percent, the most since February 2024. Prices for clothing and footwear rose 0.4 percent.

Canada, Mexico and Brazil  

Trump issued a separate order for Canada that raises the rate on Canadian goods subject to fentanyl-related tariffs to 35 percent, from 25 percent previously, saying Canada had "failed to cooperate" in curbing illicit narcotics flows over its southern border.

The higher tariffs on Canadian goods contrasted sharply with Trump's decision to grant Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30 percent 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 30 percent tariff on most Mexican non-automotive and non-metal goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade and came after a Thursday call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

"We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow," Sheinbaum wrote on X, saying the Trump call was "very good."

About 85 percent of U.S. imports from Mexico comply with the rules of origin outlined in the USMCA, shielding them from 25 percent tariffs related to fentanyl, according to Mexico's economy ministry.

Trump said the U.S. would continue to levy a 50 percent tariff on Mexican steel, aluminum and copper and a 25 percent tariff on Mexican autos and on non-USMCA-compliant goods subject to tariffs related to the U.S. fentanyl crisis.

"Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many," Trump said in a Truth Social post, without providing details.

Trump hit Brazil's exports on Wednesday with a 50 percent tariff as he escalated his fight with the country over its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from heavier levies.

India, South Africa, Switzerland… and China

Indian goods seemed headed for a 25 percent tariff after talks bogged down over access to India's agriculture sector, drawing a higher-rate threat from Trump that included an unspecified penalty for India's purchases of Russian oil.

New Delhi vowed to protect the country's farm sector, and the threat of higher rates from Trump triggered outrage from the opposition party and a slump in the rupee.

Switzerland reacted to its 39 percent levy by saying it would push for a "negotiated solution" with the U.S., while South Africa's Trade Minister Parks Tau said he was seeking "real, practical interventions" to defend jobs and the economy against its 30 percent tariff.

Meanwhile, Trump's administration has placed an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with China, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating reciprocal tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. High-level delegations from the two sides met in Stockholm this week.

After the latest round of global tariffs was announced, China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun warned that protectionism "harms the interests of all parties".

"The Chinese side's opposition to tariffs has been consistent and clear," Guo said, adding: "There is no winner in a tariff war or trade war."