Trump tariffs explained: what's changed and why have Asian countries been hit so hard?

The Guardian

19 hours ago

US President Donald Trump has ramped up threats to impose punishing tariffs on more than a dozen nations unless they can broker a deal before 1 August, marking the latest phase in his trade war.
The tax duties stem from Trump's so-called 'reciprocal' tariff package that was first announced in April, but then delayed for 90 days to allow for negotiations. That deadline, initially scheduled to end this week, has now been pushed back to August.
The shifting timeline of the most significant US tariff increases in nearly a century has roiled global markets and caused widespread confusion, with the US administration far off from sealing the '90 deals in 90 days' it had initially promised.
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Trump informed powerhouse suppliers Japan, South Korea and 12 other nations at the start of this week that they will face tariffs of at least 25% starting from August unless they can quickly negotiate deals.
He also threatened to increase them if any countries retaliate, or tried to circumvent tariffs by sending goods through other nations.
Trump has kept much of the world guessing on the outcome of months of talks with countries hoping to avoid the hefty tariff hikes he has threatened.
The rate for South Korea is the same as Trump initially announced, while the rate for Japan is one percentage point higher than that announced in April.
Fourteen countries have been given notice this week of the looming tariffs increase, with more expected to follow in the coming days.
The steep tariff rates range from 25-40% with some of the harshest levies imposed on developing nations in southeast Asia, including 32% for Indonesia, 36% for Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos, and Myanmar, a country riven by years of civil war.
Manufacturing hub Bangladesh faces 35%, while Tunisia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been slapped with a 30% tariff unless they can reach a deal.
Trump granted a 90-day pause this April to allow for time to broker trade deals, but only two deals have been reached.
The first deal with the UK, signed on 8 May, includes a 10% of most UK goods, including cars, and zero tariffs for steel and aluminium. A second deal was reached with Vietnam last week that sets a 20% tariff for much of its exports, although the full details are unclear, with no text released.
Relations with China, after escalating into a major trade war, have reached a delicate truce.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he expected several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, adding that his inbox was full of last-ditch offers from affected nations.
South Korea's president convened an emergency meeting and its trade ministry said the country would use the extended deadline to negotiate 'mutually beneficial results'. The EU reportedly aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday.
Meanwhile other nations such as South Africa have hit back, with the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa saying the 30% US tariff rate was unjustified given that 77% of US goods enter South Africa with zero tariffs.
US stocks have fallen in response, the latest market turmoil as Trump's trade moves have roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies.
The S&P 500 closed down about 0.8%, its biggest drop in three weeks. US-listed shares of Japanese automotive companies fell, with Toyota Motor closing down 4% and Honda Motor off by 3.9%.
The US dollar has had its worst first half-year in more than 50 years.
'Tariff talk has sucked the wind out of the sails of the market,' Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters.
Countries in Asia have been hit with some of the most punitive tariffs due to what Trump claims is their unfair trade deficits – meaning they export more to the US than they import.
However, analysts have questions the merit of using these calculations and also suggested that Trump may instead be trying to punish China, by targeting countries that receive substantial investment from the world's second-largest economy.
Several nations in Southeast Asia, a region that accounted for 7.2% of global GDP in 2024, are also major manufacturing hubs for goods such as textiles and footwear, meaning they will be severely affected by tariffs, while conversely prices for such goods will also rise in the US.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing this week that more countries would be informed of looming tariffs this week.
Trump was 'close' on other deals, she added, but 'wants to ensure these are the best deals possible'.
However, the minimal progress on deals to date highlights what trade experts say is the reality of trade agreements – that they are time-consuming and complicated.