Economic Watch: Trump's sweeping new tariffs spark extensive criticism
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that further modified tariff rates with 69 trading partners, drawing criticism across the world.
The order, set to be implemented on Aug. 7, imposes "additional ad valorem duties on goods of certain trading partners," with rates ranging from 10 percent to 40 percent.
SWEEPING TARIFFS
Under the new executive order, the "universal" tariff for goods entering the United States will remain at 10 percent, the same rate implemented on April 2. However, the 10-percent rate will only apply to countries with which the United States has a trade surplus, CNN reported, citing a senior official.
For countries with which the United States has a trade deficit, a 15-percent rate will serve as the new tariff floor. Still, for more than a dozen other countries, the tariff rates are higher than 15 percent, either because they agreed to a trade framework with the United States or because Trump sent their leaders a letter requiring a higher tariff, it added.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order increasing the tariff on Canada from 25 percent to 35 percent, with the higher tariff taking effect on Aug. 1.
Goods qualifying for preferential tariff treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will continue to remain exempt from the new tariffs. Goods transshipped to evade the 35-percent tariff will be subject, instead, to a transshipment tariff of 40 percent.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order implementing an additional 40-percent tariff on Brazilian goods, bringing the total tariff amount to 50 percent.
On the same day, Trump announced that Washington had reached a "full and complete" trade deal with South Korea, setting 15-percent tariffs on its exports.
South Korea has also agreed to invest 350 billion U.S. dollars in projects "owned and controlled by the United States," and selected by himself, Trump said.
Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would impose a 25-percent tariff on imports from India, starting on Aug. 1.
On July 27, Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that they had reached a trade deal under which the United States would impose a baseline tariff of 15 percent on EU goods.
The deal allows the United States to impose a broad 15-percent tariff on EU goods while securing zero-tariff access for a range of strategic American exports.
In contrast, the EU has pledged to purchase 750 billion U.S. dollars' worth of American energy and commit an additional 600 billion U.S. dollars in investments in the United States.
WIDE CRITICISM
The higher tariffs continue Trump's reversal of the decades of globalization that made America's massive services economy the envy of the world but contributed to its long decline in manufacturing, CNN commented.
"Our businesses ... need some degree of certainty, and all they're getting is chaos and inflation. So the Trump tariff trade war is a trade war on the American people. We've seen this week the chaos and uncertainty," said Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on Friday that his government is disappointed by Trump's decision to increase the tariff on Canadian goods to 35 percent.
According to the statement, the sectors of lumber, steel, aluminum and automobiles are heavily impacted by U.S. duties and tariffs.
The Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian and diversify export markets, said Carney.
Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said his government will soon announce a response plan focused on providing financing assistance, deferring tax payments, accelerating export tax refunds, and reactivating labor protection policies.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, slammed the U.S.-EU deal as "significantly imbalanced." In a statement following the announcement of the agreement, he said that "concessions have been made that are difficult to bear."
The trade agreement is "a political, economic and moral fiasco," Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party in the French parliament, said in an X post.
"Hundreds of billions of euros of gas, as well as weapons, will have to be imported each year from the United States. This is a complete capitulation for French industry, and for our energy and military sovereignty," she said.
"I don't think Trump wants a trade deal. He wants these countries to surrender their economic sovereignty," said Sizo Nkala, senior research fellow at the Center for Africa-China Studies, University of Johannesburg.
"More than anything, the tariff rates represent an assault on and a violation of a rules-based multilateral trading system administered by the World Trade Organization," Nkala said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
39 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump pressures China and India to stop buying cheap Russian oil
U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing China and India to stop buying oil from Russia and helping fund the Kremlin's war against Ukraine. Trump is raising the issue as he seeks to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. But cheap Russian oil benefits refiners in those countries as well as meeting their needs for energy, and they're not showing any inclination to halt the practice. Three countries are big buyers of Russian oil China, India and Turkey are the biggest recipients of oil that used to go to the European Union. The EU's decision to boycott most Russian seaborne oil from January 2023 led to a massive shift in crude flows from Europe to Asia. Since then China has been the No. 1 overall purchaser of Russian energy since the EU boycott, with some $219.5 billion worth of Russian oil, gas and coal, followed by India with $133.4 billion and Turkey with $90.3 billion. Before the invasion, India imported relatively little Russian oil. Hungary imports some Russian oil through a pipeline. Hungary is an EU member, but President Viktor Orban has been critical of sanctions against Russia. The lure of cheaper oil One big reason: It's cheap. Since Russian oil trades at a lower price than international benchmark Brent, refineries can fatten their profit margins when they turn crude into usable products such as diesel fuel. Russia's oil earnings are substantial despite sanctions The Kyiv School of Economics says Russia took in $12.6 billion from oil sales in June. Russia continues to earn substantial sums even as the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations has tried to limit Russia's take by imposing an oil price cap. The cap is to be enforced by requiring shipping and insurance companies to refuse to handle oil shipments above the cap. Russia has to a great extent been able to evade the cap by shipping oil on a 'shadow fleet' of old vessels using insurers and trading companies located in countries that are not enforcing sanctions. Russian oil exporters are predicted to take in $153 billion this year, according to the Kyiv institute. Fossil fuels are the single largest source of budget revenue. The imports support Russia's ruble currency and help Russia to buy goods from other countries, including weapons and parts for them.
Canada News.Net
an hour ago
- Canada News.Net
Brazil coffee tariff set to shake U.S. market, fuel price pressure
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A new 50 percent U.S. import tariff on Brazilian coffee is poised to shake up global trade flows, redirecting beans from the world's largest coffee producer away from American roasters and potentially into the hands of China and other alternative buyers. The Trump administration announced the tariff this week, saying it will take effect August 6 as part of a broader set of measures aimed at punishing Brazil over political disputes. The move throws into question the future of nearly eight million bags of coffee Brazil sells to U.S. buyers annually, roughly a third of all American coffee imports. "The global coffee trade flow will be reshuffled. The pain will be felt from Sao Paulo to Seattle, from origin to roaster, to cafe chains, grocers, and morning commuters," said Michael J. Nugent, senior U.S. coffee broker and owner of MJ Nugent & Co. The U.S. remains the world's largest coffee consumer at 25 million bags a year, with Brazil supplying about a third of that. The tariff threatens a US$4.4 billion trade relationship built over the past year alone. Analysts say China, a growing coffee market, is one of the likely beneficiaries. "More Brazilian beans may be bound for China because of trade ties between the two nations… and after the first Trump administration disrupted trade," said Marc Schonland, an advisor to the U.S. coffee industry. Brazil exported 538,000 bags to China in the first half of 2025, according to data from the exporter association Cecafe. Consumption in China is growing rapidly, with per capita intake doubling in the past five years and overall growth averaging 20 percent annually for a decade. Europe could also see a boost in shipments. "More Brazilian beans could also head to the European Union, where they face no tariffs," said Logan Allender, head of coffee at U.S. roaster Atlas Coffee Club. Traders may also seek workarounds. Coffee shipped through third countries like Mexico or Panama might bypass the full impact of the tariffs. "It will add a bit of logistics costs, but brings down the (tariff) effect to a max 10 percent to 15 percent," said Debajyoti Bhattacharyya of AFEX Ltd. "Without a strong traceable supply chain, tariffs are meaningless. I mean, we can't stop oil from flowing, why would coffee?" Some industry watchers say the tariff is politically motivated. The U.S. excluded coffee from an exemption list of Brazilian goods. "It's a bargaining chip," said Judith Ganes, soft commodities analyst, pointing to Trump's tensions with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and his defense of ally Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian coffee shipped before August 6 will be exempt if it arrives in the U.S. by October 6. U.S. processor William Kapos said his firm is rushing to move existing inventory before the deadline. "But everybody will do that, so price-wise it is going to be a squeeze on U.S. buyers," he added, noting a shift toward Central American and African suppliers.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
In rejecting the jobs report, Trump follows his own playbook of discrediting unfavorable data
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the coronavirus surged during President Donald Trump's first term, he called for a simple fix: Limit the amount of testing so the deadly outbreak looked less severe. When he lost the 2020 election, he had a ready-made reason: The vote count was fraudulent. And on Friday, when the July jobs report revisions showed a distressed economy, Trump had an answer: He fired the official in charge of the data and called the report of a sharp slowdown in hiring 'phony.' Trump has a go-to playbook if the numbers reveal uncomfortable realities, and that's to discredit or conceal the figures and to attack the messenger — all of which can hurt the president's efforts to convince the world that America is getting stronger. 'Our democratic system and the strength of our private economy depend on the honest flow of information about our economy, our government and our society,' said Douglas Elmendorf, a Harvard University professor who was formerly director of the Congressional Budget Office. 'The Trump administration is trying to suppress honest analysis.' The president's strategy carries significant risks for his own administration and a broader economy that depends on politics-free data. His denouncements threaten to lower trust in government and erode public accountability, and any manipulation of federal data could result in policy choices made on faulty numbers, causing larger problems for both the president and the country. The White House disputes any claims that Trump wants to hide numbers that undermine his preferred narratives. It emphasized that Goldman Sachs found that the two-month revisions on the jobs report were the largest since 1968, outside of a recession, and that should be a source of concern regarding the integrity of the data. Trump's aides say their fundamental focus is ensuring that any data gives an accurate view of reality. Not the first time Trump has sought to play with numbers Trump has a long history of dismissing data when it reflects poorly on him and extolling or even fabricating more favorable numbers, a pattern that includes his net worth, his family business, election results and government figures: — Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in a lawsuit brought by the state of New York that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans. — Trump has claimed that the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections were each rigged. Trump won the 2016 presidential election by clinching the Electoral College, but he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, a sore spot that led him to falsely claim that millions of immigrants living in the country illegally had cast ballots. He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden but falsely claimed he had won it, despite multiple lawsuits failing to prove his case. — In 2019, as Hurricane Dorian neared the East Coast, Trump warned Alabama that the storm was coming its way. Forecasters pushed back, saying Alabama was not at risk. Trump later displayed a map in the Oval Office that had been altered with a black Sharpie — his signature pen — to include Alabama in the potential path of the storm. — Trump's administration has stopped posting reports on climate change, canceled studies on vaccine access and removed data on gender identity from government sites. — As pandemic deaths mounted, Trump suggested that there should be less testing. 'When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people,' Trump said at a June 2020 rally in Oklahoma. 'You're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.'' While Trump's actions have drawn outcry from economists, scientists and public interest groups, Elmendorf noted that Trump's actions regarding economic data could be tempered by Congress, which could put limits on Trump by whom he chooses to lead federal agencies, for example. 'Outside observers can only do so much,' Elmendorf said. 'The power to push back against the president rests with the Congress. They have not exercised that power, but they could.' White House says having its own people in place will make data 'more reliable' Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, took aim at the size of the downward revisions in the jobs report (a combined 258,000 reduction in May and June) to suggest that the report had credibility issues. He said Trump is focused on getting dependable numbers, despite the president linking the issue to politics by claiming the revisions were meant to make Republicans look bad. 'The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable,' Hassett said Sunday on NBC News. Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who oversaw the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis during the Biden administration, stressed that revisions to the jobs data are standard. That's because the numbers are published monthly, but not all surveys used are returned quickly enough to be in the initial publishing of the jobs report. 'Revisions solve the tension between timeliness and accuracy,' Kolko said. 'We want timely data because policymakers and businesses and investors need to make decisions with the best data that's available, but we also want accuracy.' Kolko stressed the importance in ensuring that federal statistics are trustworthy not just for government policymakers but for the companies trying to gauge the overall direction of the economy when making hiring and investment choices. 'Businesses are less likely to make investments if they can't trust data about how the economy is doing,' he said. Not every part of the jobs report was deemed suspect by the Trump administration. Before Trump ordered the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, the White House rapid response social media account reposted a statement by Vice President JD Vance noting that native-born citizens were getting jobs and immigrants were not, drawing from data in the household tables in the jobs report. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer also trumpeted the findings on native-born citizens, noting on Fox Business Network's 'Varney & Co.' that they are accounting 'for all of the job growth, and that's key.' During his first run for the presidency, Trump criticized the economic data as being fake only to fully embrace the positive numbers shortly after he first entered the White House in 2017. White House says transparency is a value The challenge of reliable data goes beyond economic figures to basic information on climate change and scientific research. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. In July, taxpayer-funded reports on the problems climate change is creating for America and its population disappeared from government websites. The White House initially said NASA would post the reports in compliance with a 1990 law, but the agency later said it would not because any legal obligations were already met by having reports submitted to Congress. The White House maintains that it has operated with complete openness, posting a picture of Trump on Monday on social media with the caption, 'The Most Transparent President in History.' In the picture, Trump had his back to the camera and was covered in shadows, visibly blocking out most of the light in front of him. ___ Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.
