WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that set new tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners to go into effect on Aug. 7 — the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy and sturdiness of American alliances built up over decades.
The order was issued shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday. It came after a flurry of tariff-related activity in the last several days, as the White House announced agreements with various nations and blocs ahead of the president’s self-imposed Friday deadline. The tariffs are being implemented at a later date in order for the rates schedule to be harmonized, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on a call on the condition of anonymity.
After initially threatening the African nation of Lesotho with a 50% tariff, the country’s goods will now be taxed at 15%. Taiwan will have tariffs set at 20%, Pakistan at 19% and Israel, Iceland, Norway, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana and Ecuador among the countries with imported goods taxed at 15%. Switzerland would be tariffed at 39%.
Trump had announced a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil, but the order was only 10% as the other 40% were part of a separate measure approved by Trump on Wednesday.
The order capped off a hectic Thursday as nations sought to continue negotiating with Trump. It set the rates for 68 countries and the 27-member European Union, with a baseline 10% rate to be charged on countries not listed in the order. The senior administration official said the rates were based on trade imbalance with the U.S. and regional economic profiles.
On Thursday morning, Trump engaged in a phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on trade. As a result of the conversation, the U.S. president said he would enter into a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico, one of the nation’s largest trading partners. The current 25% tariff rates are staying in place, down from the 30% he had threatened earlier.
“We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and we got 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue,” Sheinbaum wrote on X after a call with Trump that he referred to as “very successful” in terms of the leaders getting to know each other better.
The unknowns created a sense of drama that has defined Trump’s rollout of tariffs over several months. However, the one consistency is his desire to levy the import taxes that most economists say will ultimately be borne to some degree by U.S. consumers and businesses.
I'll bet a few of his buddies get a stimulus check to start a business in that environment, then bail after a year, pocketing the change.