Live updates: Trump and Netanyahu to meet at White House; U.S. to send tariff letters
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are meeting this evening over dinner and are expected to discuss the recent military strikes against Iran.
Trump said in a social media post last night that he would be sending letters to U.S. trading partners starting at noon today, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated yesterday would warn that if the countries don't reach trade deals with the U.S. in the coming days, their tariff rates would revert to steep duties announced in early April.
The president yesterday ridiculed Elon Musk's plans to form a new political party following the passage of the GOP's sweeping domestic policy bill. The billionaire tech mogul has railed against the legislation for months, in part over its projected impact on the federal deficit.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump tariffs explained: what's changed and why have Asian countries been hit so hard?
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. If you are perplexed by Trump's tariffs here is the latest. 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.
Reuters
43 minutes ago
- Reuters
Shares steady, dollar firms on US tariff letters; oil dips
TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Asia took in stride the latest twist in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff roll-out on Tuesday, as the dollar held onto gains and oil retreated. Shares on Wall Street fell after Trump sent letters to 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, unveiling sharply higher tariffs on imports into the United States, while also postponing their implementation to August 1. Japan's Nikkei stock gauge (.N225), opens new tab opened lower but then turned positive after Trump described that deadline as "firm, but not 100% firm" and said tariffs may be adjusted for some countries. The Aussie dollar rose ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision later in the day. Market reaction to the tariff announcements was muted on memories of Trump's rapid walk back of his "Liberation Day" duties initially set out on April 2, said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank. "There's going to be a lot of volatility as the headlines start to emerge, as more of these letters come out, and as the negotiations really come to the fore ahead of that August 1 deadline," Strickland said on an NAB podcast. In April, Trump capped all of the so-called reciprocal tariffs with trading partners at 10% until July 9 to allow for negotiations. Only two agreements, with Britain and Vietnam, have been reached. In June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework covering tariff rates, restoring a fragile truce in their trade war. Tariffs on Japan and South Korea are now due to go up to 25% on August 1. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the hike deeply regrettable and said his nation would continue negotiations with the U.S. The European Union will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs, EU sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The EU still aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump had a "good exchange," a commission spokesperson said. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was up 0.2% in early trade. Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225), opens new tab rose 0.4% while South Korea's KOSPI (.KS11), opens new tab jumped 1.5%. The dollar rose 0.2% to 146.36 yen , touching a two-week high. The euro was flat at $1.1741. The Aussie advanced 0.4% to $0.6516 before a meeting by the central bank where policymakers are widely expected to deliver a 25-basis-point cut. U.S. crude dipped 0.5% to $67.59 a barrel after surging nearly 2% on Monday. Spot gold edged 0.2% lower. In early trade, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.1%, German DAX futures were down 0.1% at 24,133, and FTSE futures slid 0.3%.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump's big beautiful betrayal
On 4 July – as Americans celebrated their country's independence – Donald Trump signed into law his sweeping tax and spending bill. Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill', as he and fellow Republicans call it, is a sprawling piece of legislation covering everything from tax cuts to border walls to repealing environmental protections, the Guardian US's chief reporter, Ed Pilkington, explains. But for a president who normally rules by executive order, the act perhaps tells us better than anything so far what he wants to achieve in office. 'It enshrines what Trump wants to do in his second term,' says Pilkington. Most controversially, it includes enormous tax breaks for the country's super-wealthy, while making swingeing cuts to social welfare programmes used by its poor. More than 10 million US citizens are expected to lose access to Medicaid - despite Trump's continued insistence, since coming into office, that he would not touch the service. So, asks Michael Safi, why is Trump doing it? And will it cost him the support of the millions of poorer Americans, who came out to vote for him last year?
