Trump announces new tariffs for August 1

Many governments are negotiating trade deals with the United States on Thursday, just hours before the August 1 deadline set by Donald Trump, who has imposed new tariffs aimed at punishing or favoring his main trading partners.

The Trump administration is using tariffs as a means of economic and political pressure against several trading partners, including Canada, Brazil , and India.

South Korea , a key security ally of Washington, jumped on the bandwagon at the last minute, securing an agreement on a 15% tariff on its exports to the United States, significantly lower than the 25% Trump had previously threatened to impose. This rate is equivalent to the taxes set in trade agreements the United States has reached with Japan and the European Union . The South Korean presidency said that tariffs on automobiles, one of Seoul's main exports, would also remain at 15%.

Taiwan, threatened with a 32% tax and possible new customs duties on semiconductors, the pillar of the island's economy, indicated on Thursday that it had reached "a certain consensus" with the United States, without providing details on the agreed rate.

As of August 1, a number of surcharges are to be applied to most of the United States' trading partners, including some very heavy sector-specific ones, such as the 50% planned for copper. And this time, after two pauses, there will be no further postponement. "Everything will be done on Friday," assured Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "August 1 is the day we implement these rates, and they will not be subject to discussion after that." For approximately 80 countries, including the 27 members of the European Union (EU), customs duties applied to their products are therefore expected to increase as of Friday, to between 11% and 50%, depending on the origin of the products.

The EU, Japan, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines have already reached agreements with the White House, resulting in lower surcharges than those initially announced. But most of these agreements actually concern negotiation frameworks, not formal signed texts, with the White House deliberately remaining vague to highlight its successes.

European products are expected to be taxed at 15%, compared to 20% planned by the US administration in early April, after having even been threatened with 30%. Brazil is expected to be the hardest hit, with a 50% surcharge in retaliation for the prosecution of its former president Jair Bolsonaro, accused of an attempted coup after his defeat in the 2022 presidential election, a "witch hunt," according to his ally Donald Trump. The White House tenant signed an executive order to this effect on Wednesday, effective August 6. Indian products will be subject to 25% customs duties upon arrival in the United States starting August 1, but a "penalty" will be added for India's purchase of Russian oil, according to the US president. The latter stated Thursday that Canada's decision in September to recognize Palestine as a state would make any future trade agreement "very difficult." The negotiations, suspended in June following Ottawa's introduction of a tax on digital services, took place in a tense diplomatic climate, fueled in particular by his provocative remarks about Canada as a potential "51st American state" .

The impact of tariffs continues to worry economists, who see them weighing not only on inflation, which could rise back up to 3%, but also on US growth, which is expected to be below 1% in the second half of the year. This is enough to encourage the Federal Reserve (Fed) to be cautious, much to the dismay of Donald Trump. On Wednesday, the US central bank kept its rates unchanged, and its chief, Jerome Powell, appeared to further push back the possibility of a future cut.