July 9 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday informed seven more nations about new tariffs, singling out Brazil with a 50% duty because of what he called the “disgrace” of how former President Jair Bolsonaro has been treated and an “unfair trade relationship.”
Other nations told about rates effective Aug. 1 were the Philippines 20%, Moldova 25% and Brunei 25%, and Algeria, Libya and Iraq at 30% on goods they ship to the United States.
Trump so far has sent letters to 21 nations with seven on Monday. They all had standard language in the two-page letters, except for the one to Brazil.
Trump told current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a letter posted on Truth Social that “the way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. The trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”
Bolsonaro, who faces charges that he plotted to overturn his 2022 election loss against Lula, has been referred to as the “Trump of the tropics.”
Trump also noted “Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the Fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.”
And he said the United States also is launching an investigation into potential unfair trade practices by Brazil, Trump wrote in the letter.
He said the South American nation’s trade policies have caused “unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States,” which threaten the U.S. economy and national security.
On April 2 on “Liberation Day,” Brazil was among most U.S. trading partners imposed a 10% baseline tariff. Brazil was not among the nations threatened with harsher reciprocal tariffs but on Monday, Trump threatened an additional 10% tariffs on BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. The other BRICS nations are Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
Tariffs has not sent letters to the BRICS nations except a 30% one for South Africa and 32% for Indonesia.
The United States’ big imports from Brazil include crude petroleum and refined petroleum products, iron and steel, machinery and agricultural products, including fruit and vegetable juices, and meats.
“Please note that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your country,” Trump wrote. “And it is necessary to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime. As you are aware, there will be no Tariff if Brazil, or companies within your country, decide to build of manufacture within the United States, and we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely, in other words, in a matter of weeks.”
On Tuesday, he signed an executive order that officially pushed back the implementation date from July 9 to Aug. 1. He said there will be no more extensions. Trump originally intended the harder penalties to take effect earlier but on April 9 he paused it 90 days.
The new tarriffs, except for Brazil, range from 20% to 40% with the latter imposed on Laos and Myanmar.
Among major trading partners, Japan and Korea were slapped with 25% duties.
The letters state that the 25% tariffs are separate from sector-specific duties on key product categories.
On Tuesday, Trump announced a 50% tariff on imported copper after 50% imposed in June on steel and aluminum.
“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” Trump wrote in the letters. “You will never be disappointed with the United States of America.”
Trump has yet to impose new tariffs on the 27-member European Union, but has said negotiations were not going well.
Trump also warned that the rates could be higher if they impose retaliatory duties.
In the latters Trump said there will be no tariff in the nation or the company “decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely.”
U.S. stock indexes rose Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up 0.49%, Standard and Poor’s 500 rising 0.61% and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increasing 0.95%.
Two index are just off record highs Thursday — S&P 16 points and Nasdaq 13 points. DJIA is several hundred points off a record on Dec. 4.
Stock indices in the U.S on Monday each dropped less than 1% after the letters were made public.
US President Donald Trump said he was planning to impose a 50% tax on goods made in Brazil, escalating his fight with the South American country.
He announced the plan in his latest tariff letter, which was shared on social media.
In it, Trump accuses Brazil of “attacks” on US tech companies and of conducting a “witch hunt” against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the 2022 election.
Responding in a social media post, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said an increase in tariffs on Brazil would be reciprocated, and he warned against any interference in the nation’s judicial system.
Trump also sparred with Lula about Bolsonaro’s trial earlier this week.
At the time, Lula said Brazil would not accept “interference” from anyone and added: “No one is above the law.”
Also on Wednesday, Trump said a 50% tariff on copper imports, that he announced earlier this week, will come into effect on 1 August.
He said in a social media post that the decision was made due to national security concerns.
Trump has posted 22 letters to countries around the world this week, including trade partners such as Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka, outlining new tariffs on their goods which he says will come into force on 1 August.
Those moves have largely served to revive plans he had put forward in April, but that were put on hold after financial markets recoiled at the measures.
But the message to Brazil was a far more targeted missive and threatened a significant increase from the 10% tariff the White House had previously announced on goods from the country.
Unlike many other countries, the US enjoyed a trade surplus with Brazil last year, selling more goods in the country than it purchased from it.
In the letter, Trump called the 50% rate “necessary… to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime”.
He said he would order the US Trade Representative to launch a so-called 301 investigation into Brazil’s digital trade practices.
Such a move would mark a turn towards a more established legal process that the US has used to impose tariffs in the past, toughening the threat. In his first term, Trump took a similar step over Brazil’s consideration of a tax targeting tech firms.
Trump, in the letter, accused the Brazilian government of “insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans” including the censorship of “US Social Media platforms”.
Trump’s social media company, Trump Media, is among the US tech companies fighting Brazilian court rulings over orders suspending social media accounts.
The country had also temporarily banned Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, after the platform refused to ban accounts that were deemed by Brazil to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Brazilian presidential election.
Last month, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that social media companies can be held responsible for content posted on their platforms.
In his letter, Trump also spoke favourably of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro, saying he “respected him greatly”. He added that the ongoing trial against him is “an international disgrace”.
Trump and Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, with the pair meeting in 2019 at the White House during Trump’s first term. Bolsonaro is often dubbed “Trump of the Tropics”.
Both men subsequently lost presidential elections and both refused to publicly acknowledge defeat.
Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is standing trial for allegedly attempting a coup with thousands of his supporters storming government buildings in the capital in January 2023 after Lula was victorious in the election.
Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time and has denied any links to the rioters or any involvement in the plot.
Earlier this week, Trump had compared Bolsonaro’s prosecution to the legal cases he has similarly faced.
“This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent – Something I know much about!” Trump had said. In response, Bolsonaro thanked the US president for his support.
Trump was also critical of the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the group of developing nations met on Sunday. Trump called the group, which includes Brazil, “anti-American” and said those countries would be charged an additional 10% tariff.
President Lula fired back on Monday against Trump’s social media threats.
“He needs to know that the world has changed,” Lula said. “We don’t want an emperor.”
US copper prices spiked after US President Donald Trump said he planned to place a 50% tariff on imports of the metal on Tuesday.
Copper futures traded in New York jumped around 13% to $5.69 a pound, a record closing-price, dramatically outpacing gains on copper futures traded in London.
As of around 3.30am EDT on Wednesday, the New York price had dropped to around $5.59, although it remained at a much higher level than before Trump’s announcement.
The president commented on the tariff during a televised cabinet meeting, without giving great detail, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration would formalise the decision in the coming days. Lutnick suggested that the duty would come into effect around the end of this month, or in early August.
The development also comes as Trump is nearing his 1 August deadline, before which he has vowed to slap “so-called” reciprocal duties on countries running a trade surplus with the US.
The president has been sending out letters to trading partners, notifying them of tariff rates, and he said that seven more country-specific rates would be announced on Wednesday. So far, the US has reached trade agreements with the UK, China, and Vietnam.
Copper is used in a wide variety of products, meaning the tariff will affect electronics, construction, and industrial machinery, likely to push up inflation across the board.
This comes as Trump is putting pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. Powell said last week that the Fed would have eased monetary policy by now if not for the new US tariffs, which are sowing uncertainty and risking economic stability.
According to the US Geological Survey, the US imported about 810,000 metric tons of refined copper last year, about half of what it consumed. Chile is the most significant exporter to the US, followed by Canada.
A 50% tariff on the metal would bring the rate in line with the duties already placed on aluminium and steel, which became effective in June.
Although the exact rate was undisclosed, the copper duty itself was not unexpected, as Trump in February ordered a Section 232 investigation into imports of the metal. The probe intends to determine whether Trump has the right to impose the tariffs on national-security grounds.
Trump also said on Tuesday that a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals was coming “very soon”, but he added that he would give the industry at least a year to adjust.
The US imports roughly half of its copper needs each year, which is used in construction, transportation and electronics.
United States President Donald Trump has said he will announce a 50 percent tariff on copper, hoping to boost domestic production of a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods.
Trump told reporters at a White House cabinet meeting that he planned to make the copper tariff announcement later in the day, but did not say when the tariff would take effect.
“I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make 50 percent,” Trump said.
US Comex copper futures jumped more than 12 percent to a record high after Trump announced the planned tariff, which came earlier than the industry had expected, with the rate steeper.
After Trump spoke, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in an interview on CNBC that the tariff would likely be put in place by the end of July or August 1. He said Trump would post details on his Truth Social media account sometime on Tuesday.
In February, the administration announced a so-called Section 232 investigation into US imports of the red metal. Such an investigation allows the US Department of Commerce to analyse the impact of an import on national security. The deadline for the investigation to conclude was November, but Lutnick said the review was already complete.
“The idea is to bring copper home, bring copper production home, bring the ability to make copper, which is key to the industrial sector, back home to America,” Lutnick said.
The National Mining Association declined to comment, saying it preferred to wait until details were released. The American Critical Minerals Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Copper is used in construction, transportation, electronics and many other industries. The US imports roughly half of its copper needs each year.
Copper supplies
Major copper mining projects across the US have faced strong opposition in recent years due to a variety of reasons, including Rio Tinto and BHP’s Resolution Copper project in Arizona and Northern Dynasty Minerals’s Pebble Mine project in Alaska.
Shares of the world’s largest copper producer, Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan, shot up nearly 5 percent in Tuesday afternoon trading. The company, which produced 1.26 billion pounds of copper in the US last year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Freeport, which would benefit from US copper tariffs but worries that the duties would hurt the global economy, has advised Trump to focus on boosting US copper production.
Countries set to be most affected by any new US copper tariff would be Chile, Canada and Mexico, which were the top suppliers to the US of refined copper, copper alloys and copper products in 2024, according to US Census Bureau data.
Chile, Canada and Peru, three of the largest copper suppliers to the US, have told the Trump administration that imports from their countries do not threaten US interests and should not face tariffs. All three have free trade deals with the US.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy, Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Canada’s Department of Finance did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chile’s Mining Ministry and Codelco, the country’s leading copper miner, declined to comment.
A 50 percent tariff on copper imports would affect US companies that use the metal because the country is years away from meeting its needs, said Ole Hansen, the head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
“The US has imported a whole year of demand over the past six months, so the local storage levels are ample,” Hansen said. “I see a correction in copper prices following the initial jump.”
To find out how companies are coping with rising trade tensions and currency volatility, we asked our writers across key regions—Southeast Asia, Japan, India, and the United States—to speak with manufacturers and exporters on the ground.
The picture that emerged is one of caution, adaptation—and, above all, unpredictability. While some companies declined to comment or requested anonymity, others offered a window into how they’re navigating the volatility.
A few, including firms both outside and within the US, pointed to short-term advantages. But most described a landscape where contingency planning, hedging, and “wait-and-see” strategies have become the norm.
No one claimed to be immune. And all agreed on one thing: the situation is fluid, and it could change again—quickly.
Southeast Asia
Salamander Associates CEO Bill Padfield has been closely monitoring the ripple effects of US trade policy across Southeast Asia.
Padfield argues that the tariffs promulgated by the Trump administration have generated enormous hesitation in the business community. “First the pause button goes on; capital investment is halted, hiring is halted,” he adds.
In Southeast Asia’s technology manufacturing sectors, steel is a critical component. “Tech manufacturers often have steel in products,” Padfield says. “For Singapore, we have a 10% tariff, so life goes on—except what if we need steel?”
If a company’s product contains 40% steel, the ambiguity is paralyzing, he adds. “[The manufacturer] has no idea at this point how to calculate and adjust, so he cannot safely procure or price his product.” Padfield also warns of a broader, looming concern: “And so far, tariffs have been on physical products. What about services and capital flows? Will services be included and if so when … this is a grim worry for Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai.”
Gary Dugan, CEO of the CIO Office of Milltrust’s East West Private Wealth, sees a clear shift underway.
“Business leaders are actively seeking non-US solutions for customers and suppliers for their future growth. The US may be the largest economy in the world but now it is fast becoming one of the most unreliable.”
Simple risk mitigation for a company is now “how do I reduce my exposure to US policy making?” Encouraged by talk of new free trade zones elsewhere in the world, companies are actively exploring new manufacturing bases such as the Middle East, where there is an abundance of support from the governments in the form of ultra-low taxes, land, workers, and top-class logistics.
Vietnam
As the US considers reimposing steep tariffs on Asian imports, business leaders in Vietnam are watching closely. From M&A advisors to food exporters, the proposed trade shifts under the Trump administration could reshape everything from pricing strategies to regional market priorities. Nguyen Dung Yoong, CEO of advisory firm Ideainvest; Ignas Petrusis, founder of Saigon Fruits; and other company executives, share how they’re preparing their businesses—and their partners—for a more protectionist US trade environment.
Nguyen Dung Yoong, founder and CEO Ideainvest
Nguyen Dung Yoong, founder and CEO Ideainvest
Global Finance: How is your company reacting to Trump’s tariff plans?
Nguyen Dung Yoon: Ideainvest, while not a direct exporter, works closely with a network of SMEs across Vietnam and Southeast Asia—many of whom are active in electronics, agri-processing, light manufacturing, and textile garment. The Trump-era tariffs have added volatility and margin pressure to these sectors, and further escalation would intensify the challenge.
GF: Are you finding solutions to the tariff challenges?
Yoon: To support our partners, we’re piloting an AI-based platform that assesses SME resilience across financial, operational, and customer dimensions—enabling targeted interventions such as supplier diversification or contract restructuring. This gives us a real-time view of tariff exposure across our ecosystem.
GF: Will expanding to other markets be essential if the proposed tariffs come in full force?
Yoon: If reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam are imposed, we expect upward pressure on wholesale and consumer pricing. That said, we see strong opportunities in APAC—particularly in Japan, South Korea, and India—and are advising our partners to deepen these opportunities.
Ignas Petrusis, founder of food export-import company Saigon Fruits
GF: Have the Trump tariffs had a material impact on Saigon Fruits’ business partners?
Petrusis: At first, contracts with importers in America came on short hold as soon as the tariffs were announced. Later, once Vietnam and America agreed on a “90-day break,” demand and inquiries triple-folded. So far, we’re optimistic about the negotiations. It would be difficult to shift production elsewhere because we’d need to move our food technologists, equipment, and allocate new managers. That would cost us much more in terms of cost, time, and effort. It’s easier to simply “split the cost” between the importer in the US and our company, Saigon Fruits.
Ignas Petrusis, founder Saigon Fruits
GF:What happens to wholesale/retail prices if the proposed 46% reciprocal tariffs on Vietnam come into effect?
Petrusis: Supposedly, export prices should—in my humble opinion—drop a little bit to relieve the burden on the customers.
GF:How significant will APAC be as a buyer of Saigon Fruits’ affiliates’ products going forward?
Petrusis: Some countries like Thailand and Cambodia have similar climate zones and product variety. As for highly advanced economies like Japan, China, or Korea—we’ve seen steady and growing export volumes to those destinations. Nevertheless, we’re also seeing growing demand in countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and others in the Middle East. They could be a promising new market for our products.
GF:What is the mood among food exporters in Vietnam right now? Is there any optimism?
Petrusis: Vietnam wasn’t the only country affected by the tariffs. For instance, if Cambodia or China were to receive higher tariffs after the final negotiations, it would boost Vietnam’s competitiveness in terms of cost base for the importer. At least among our colleagues, partners, and suppliers, the mood is optimistic—many believe exports will keep rising. Furthermore, Vietnam has at least 16 active Free Trade Agreements, including the ones with Europe, South American, and Middle East countries. It is truly a showcase of good negotiation skills and win-win thinking implementation from the Vietnamese side.
Bruno Jaspaert, CEO of Belgium-based DEEP C Industrial Zones
As Vietnam prepares for the potential return of steep US tariffs under the second Trump administration, industrial real estate leaders like DEEP C are keeping a close eye on the ripple effects. The company, which operates five eco-industrial parks across Haiphong City and Quang Ninh Province, is one of Vietnam’s largest zone developers.
GF: Have the Trump tariffs had a material impact on DEEP C’s business?
Bruno Jaspaert: So far, there has been no impact as zero projects have been delayed or canceled so far. Initially, there was concern that some investors might reconsider their plans. However, an assessment of all companies slated to acquire land in DEEP C industrial zones across Hai Phong and Quang Ninh this year revealed that none of these projects will be postponed or aborted. This indicates that companies which have committed to investing are currently sticking to their plans, which is a positive sign.
Bruno Jaspaert, CEO at DEEP C Industrial Zones
GF: Have DEEP C’s customers formulated a strategy to mitigate tariff impact?
Jaspaert: We generally see two distinct groups. One group says it’s too difficult to predict future events and chooses to continue with their plans, confident that their current strategy is the best course of action for now. The other group expresses uncertainty due to market volatility and unknown future measures the US will take, opting to wait before committing. This second group currently represents the minority; the majority of companies are proceeding with their strategies.
GF: Is there likely to be an impact on DEEP C’s customers’ wholesale/retail prices if the proposed reciprocal tariffs on Cambodia come into effect?
Jaspaert: Most of DEEP C’s customers are focused on manufacturing of goods that do not focus on the US as the main market. The segments that are hit worst are typical low-margin markets, such as furniture, sport goods, garments, and textiles—of which we have none with Washington, D.C.
GF: How significant will markets outside the US—i.e., APAC, Europe or Canada—be as a buyer of your customers’ products in the domestic industry going forward?
Jaspaert: The US stands for 300 million consumers. The TAM (total addressable market) for the consumer in Asia is worth $4 billion. If tariffs make the US a prohibitive market, companies will adapt and lean toward other markets or aim for more intra-Asian trade.
GF: What is the general mood among exporters in Vietnam right now?
Jaspaert: Except for the heaviest hit markets, most distributors are sticking to a “wait-and-see” approach. Companies cannot change their strategies overnight and definitely not every 90 days. Rather than diving in, they are awaiting the final call before making strategic adjustments. Those companies that are hit badly are currently running at full speed to export the most to benefit from the current 10%.
India
Indian companies are also weighing the ripple effects on global supply chains, trade relationships, and cost structures. From tech consulting to textiles and industrial manufacturing, Global Finance spoke to two India-based executives on how policy shifts may reshape sourcing decisions and create new market opportunities.
Deepak Jajoo, Delaplex Limited CFO
“While services are currently not subject to tariffs, we provide technology and consulting services to a broad range of US-based industries such as energy, warehousing, logistics, etc. The primary impact of such policy changes is likely to be on manufacturing and physical goods. Since the policy details are yet to be finalized, we believe the changes will not have a major effect on the IT industry at this stage.”
Sabu Jacob, Chairman and Managing Director of Kitex Group
“The US has paused [some] tariffs, leaving some uncertainty for buyers about where to source their products, but even if these tariffs take effect, India will still be the most affordable option for buyers.”
Sabu Jacob, Kitex Group’s Chairman and Managing Director
Jacob explained that India’s trade relationship with the US is more balanced compared to countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. “India doesn’t just export to the US—it also imports heavily from them. This makes India a valuable trade partner, and the US is looking for more such balanced relationships.” The tariff situation could also push businesses to explore new markets. For instance, the recent India-UK free trade agreement allows 99% of Indian goods to enter the UK duty-free, covering almost all trade between the two nations. “A similar free trade agreement with the EU could open even bigger opportunities for India’s economy.”
Japan
David Semaya, Executive Chairman and Representative Director of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co., Ltd., says Japanese companies are taking a “wait-and-see” approach as tariff negotiations between the US and Japan remain unresolved.
“Regarding the mutual tariffs imposed by the United States, many Japanese companies are currently assessing the situation. Following the US-UK agreement, both the US and Chinese governments have agreed to reduce the additional tariffs they imposed on each other by 115%. As a result, the US will lower its tariffs from 145% to 30%, while China will reduce theirs from 125% to 10%. Since negotiations between the US and Japan are ongoing, and the outcome is still uncertain, Japanese companies are choosing not to finalize any strategies at this moment and are responding according to the present state of negotiations.
“The financial markets have reacted significantly, in terms of stocks, bonds, and currencies, since the mutual tariffs were announced. It is reported that some institutional investors, including hedge funds, have incurred losses. On the other hand, individual investors engaged in practices such as dollar-cost averaging seem to have navigated the situation successfully. Focusing on long-term investments appears to be crucial during these times.”
United States
Tony Sage, Critical Metals Corp. CEO
Tony Sage, CEO at Critical Metals Corp.
“For Critical Metals, and the critical minerals space more broadly—tariffs are no stranger to us. We’ve been in our own mini trade war with China for some time now, which really ramped up when they banned their own exports of key rare earths, including gallium, last year. Critical Metals views the push to build a domestic supply chain for critical materials in the US and the West as a positive tailwind for our business. It aligns with our longstanding vision to develop key assets that can help the West reduce its reliance on foreign countries. Our Tanbreez asset in Greenland, a 4.7 billion ton resource, is one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits, and it’s expected to be key in reducing the West’s reliance on China for rare earths.
“It’s also worth noting that the US’s domestic rare earth and critical minerals industry is still in its infancy—the US excluded rare earth elements from the tariff program because the country must rely so heavily on other sources right now. Tariffs may draw more attention to US producers, but what we feel is really going to move the needle is funding and strategic partnerships with US-focused companies to operationalize rare earth mines and refining capacity in the US as quickly as possible. Seeking relief for rare earth export restrictions isn’t enough, we believe the US government needs to back Western developers and help establish refining capacity in particular.
“As we’ve consistently maintained since our founding, securing critical minerals is a non-partisan national security imperative. Our assets provide exactly what policymakers across the political spectrum are seeking—reliable, high-quality resources in politically stable jurisdictions.”
Jeet Basi, President and Executive Chairman of Tactical Resources Corp.
“At Tactical Resources, we see measures to promote the building of domestic supply chains for the United States as a tailwind. We are focused on American assets for American rare earth production and American rare earth supply to support the production of semiconductors, electric vehicles, advanced robotics, and most importantly, national defense. Tariffs are just one tactic, as its broader and bigger than that. While there is economic uncertainty, we are benefiting from a broader geopolitical interest in securing critical mineral supplies in the US. This demand is stemming from both the federal government and the private sector, and we believe that’s only going to increase.
“The bottom line is that China has a substantial lead in the rare earths sector, and the US is racing to catch up. China currently controls roughly 90% of global rare earth production, despite accounting for only about one-third of global deposits. Tactical Resources is planning to change that with our Peak Project, which is one of the only REE hard rock direct-leach-extractable projects in the world, and is located southeast of El Paso, Texas. But tariffs won’t be enough for the US to build an integrated domestic supply chain of rare earths. The industry needs capital, price stability, streamlined permitting processes (efforts are underway for this aspect), and to establish refining capacity as quickly as possible.”
Cassandra (Gluyas) Cummings, CEO at Thomas Instrumentation Inc.
Cassandra (Gluyas)Cummings, CEO at Thomas Instrumentation Inc.
“The Trump administration’s policies are helping our business. For years we couldn’t compete with foreign pricing, but having tariffs in place at least have US companies taking another look at US manufacturing. They are sometimes still choosing to stay with their foreign manufacturers, but for years, we couldn’t even get a conversation started as everyone just assumed US manufacturing would be too expensive. It doesn’t have to be, and we can be fairly competitive in some areas.
“The tariffs aren’t affecting our supply chains too badly. It has increased some costs of our raw materials like the higher-end electronic chips that are only manufactured overseas. That said, it’s fairly small, and we do keep decent in stock inventory for our major customers. Our profit margins are very low, so we inevitably have to pass along any additional tariff charges to the customers. We are doing our best to identify US or lower tariff region alternatives where the cost makes sense. It’s just about being flexible, which we all learned to do during the global parts shortage of 2021.”
Heather Perry, CEO of Klatch Coffee
“The short story is that some of our costs are going up, immediately, but the longer, more detailed story is that those increased costs are causing us to evaluate our sourcing, importing, and roasting strategies. We need to be smarter to remain competitive in the current environment while still delivering great specialty coffee.
“Other than a very small amount of coffee produced primarily in Hawaii, the United States has essentially no domestic coffee industry. To meet the demand for total US coffee consumption, it’s almost entirely imported. That means there isn’t much of a domestic market to protect using a tariff strategy as a disincentive to foreign imports—and we can’t simply stop importing coffee, no matter what tariffs might be put in place.
“Coffee was already becoming more expensive to source prior to the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, with a pretty substantial run-up in prices occurring in the fall of 2024, which accelerated further this spring. A new baseline 10% tariff under the Trump Administration on all imports impacts us on every imported coffee, and in addition to the new 10% baseline, even higher tariffs (in some cases, much higher) were announced for some coffee producing countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. While some of these have since been paused or delayed.
“Uncertainty around the exact details on any specific day are creating some challenges to plan and predict our future costs.”
Heather Perry, CEO of Klatch Coffee
“Our direct-trade model has insulated us somewhat from supply disruptions. Whenever possible, we source directly from coffee producers, leveraging relationships that go back decades in some cases. This results in fewer stops along the supply chain, helping us to control costs. Because we import, store, and roast our own coffee, we can elect to draw down existing stock instead of replacing it at current (higher) market prices, but eventually, we have to replenish our inventory, and that might happen during a time when new tariffs are applied.
“After a very long period of absorbing increases in our costs to import coffee, we raised prices on some coffees on June 1st of this year—about 10 cents per cup of brewed coffee on average—but we’re still selling the same amount of coffee, and at this time, can’t attribute a decline in foot traffic or sales to price increases.”
July 8 (UPI) — The Japanese government announced Tuesday it plans to negotiate with the Trump administration over a planned increase in the tariff rate placed on it, even if it was painful news to receive.
After President Donald Trump informed 14 nations Monday with a mostly form letter, including Japan, that new tariffs of at least 25% will be imposed starting Aug. 1 on most of the goods sent to the United States, Japan’s Minister of Economic Revitalization Ryosei Akazawa contacted U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to express Japan’s dissatisfaction.
Akazawa also said via a social media post Monday that tariffs between the United States and Japan had not changed much because “there is a certain degree of trust” between the two countries.
“The real climax and critical moment are the three weeks until Aug. 1,” he concluded. “We would like to support the government’s negotiations more firmly than ever before.”
“Towards the new deadline of Aug. 1, the government will act with unity to engage in Japan-U.S. consultations and aim for an agreement that will benefit both countries while protecting our national interests to ensure that we pursue what should be pursued, and protect what should be protected by refraining from making hasty decisions,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishibasaid during a meeting with Japan’s Comprehensive Response Headquarters for U.S. Tariff Measures Tuesday.
“It is deeply regrettable that the U.S. government has not only imposed additional tariffs but has now also announced a further increase in tariff rates,” he also said. “The two sides have continued sincere and earnest discussions, but as of now, there are still issues that both Japan and the United States cannot resolve.”
The global economy is on edge as United States President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline looms for the imposition of double-digit tariffs on most trading partners.
On Monday, Trump announced tariffs on 14 countries, ranging from 25 to 40 percent. The targeted countries include close US allies like Japan and South Korea, as well as Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tunisia, South Africa, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
And with only a few trade deals in place, his administration is expected to announce the imposition of new levies on many more countries. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said those new tariffs would come into effect on August 1.
Trump’s initial April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of across-the-board tariffs on countries around the world sent markets into a tailspin. Trump relented – temporarily – announcing a 90-day cessation on higher tariffs, while imposing a 10 percent baseline levy on all trading partners.
Now, some experts fear that higher tariffs, if imposed after July 9, could push the global economy into a recession.
Along with reducing the trade deficit, Trump’s argument for tariffs is that they will boost US manufacturing and protect jobs. He says tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy more US-made goods, increase the taxes raised and enhance investment in the US.
But what is the current state of manufacturing in the US, and how has it fared in recent months amid the economic churn stirred by Trump’s policies?
Where are we now?
In a bid to revitalise US industry, Trump announced a $14bn investment on May 30, brokering a partnership between US Steel and Nippon Steel tipped to create 70,000 jobs, according to the White House.
The Trump administration has also highlighted investments announced by automakers, tech firms and chocolate companies, among others, as evidence of the return of manufacturing to US soil.
According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, manufacturing contributed $2.9 trillion to the economy in the first quarter of 2025, a 0.6 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2024. That places it behind only finance, professional and business services, and government as the largest sectors contributing to the US economy.
However, building that manufacturing base back to the heydays of the sector, when it dominated the US economy, will not be easy, caution many experts. They point out that the US is today missing many of the essential elements of a robust manufacturing framework, including skilled labour, government support and technology.
Manufacturing accounted for more than 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1970s, but that came down to 13 percent by 2005. Its share has since dropped further, to about 9.7 percent in 2024.
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing value added as a percentage of GDP was 21 percent in 2024, followed by professional and business services (13 percent) and government (11 percent).
US manufacturing falls for a fourth month
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Index, also known as the purchasing managers’ index (PMI), is a monthly indicator of economic activity based on a survey of purchasing managers at manufacturing firms nationwide. It serves as a primary indicator of the condition of the US economy.
The PMI measures the change in production levels across the economy from month to month. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
In June, it registered 49 percent, marking a fourth consecutive month of contraction, though the rate of decline has slowed.
(Al Jazeera)
At the start of 2025, the PMI was in expansion territory – 50.9 percent in January and 50.3 percent in February, before slipping below 50 in March.
Nine manufacturing industries reported growth in June, while six industries reported contraction.
According to the Reuters news agency, economists say the lack of clarity on what happens after July 9 has left businesses unable to make long-term plans.
How many people does manufacturing employ?
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 2025 there were some 12.75 million people employed in the manufacturing sector in the US.
Employment in manufacturing has increased from five years ago – in June 2020, some 11.95 million people were employed.
However, current employment levels are still far below the peak of nearly 20 million people hired in manufacturing jobs in the late 1970s, reflecting the long-term decline in the sector’s contribution to employment in the US.
US manufacturing job openings increased in May – 414,000, up from 392,000 in April – but actual hiring declined, hinting at uncertainties in the labour market over the Trump administration’s tariff policies.
US manufacturing compared to the rest of the world
The US has seen a decline in its share of global manufacturing, while China has taken over as the largest manufacturing country by value-added.
China contributed $4.8 trillion to the global GDP through manufacturing in 2022, followed by the US at $2.7 trillion that year.
Still, the US remains a major player and adds more manufacturing value than the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-largest countries combined. And it does so with far fewer workers than its competitors.
United States President Donald Trump has unveiled steep tariffs on more than a dozen countries as he ratchets up his pressure campaign aimed at winning concessions on trade.
Trump’s latest trade threats on Monday put 14 countries, including key US allies Japan and South Korea, on notice that they will face tariffs of 25 to 40 percent from August 1 unless they take more US exports and boost manufacturing in the US.
In nearly identical letters to the countries’ leaders, Trump said the US had “decided to move forward” with their relationship, but “only with more balanced, and fair, TRADE”.
Trump warned that any retaliatory taxes would be met with even higher tariffs, but left the door open to relief from the measures for countries that ease trade barriers.
“If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, eliminate your tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps consider an adjustment to this letter,” Trump said in the letters, using capital letters to emphasise particular words.
“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country.”
Speaking to reporters later on Monday, Trump said the August 1 deadline was “firm” but not “100 percent firm”.
“If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that,” he said.
Trump’s steepest tariffs would apply to Laos and Myanmar, which are both facing duties of 40 percent. Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia would be subject to the lowest rate of 25 percent.
Cambodia and Thailand are facing a 36 percent tariff rate, Serbia and Bangladesh a 35 percent rate, and South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina a 30 percent rate. Indonesia would be subject to a 32 percent rate.
All 14 countries, many of which have highly export-reliant economies, had previously been subject to a baseline tariff of 10 percent.
Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a debate with leaders of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Japan, on July 2, 2025 [Tomohiro Ohsumi/ pool via AFP]
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the tariff on his country “truly regrettable”, but said the Japanese side would continue negotiations towards a mutually beneficial agreement.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement that it would step up negotiations ahead of the August 1 deadline to “reach a mutually beneficial negotiation result so as to swiftly address uncertainties stemming from tariffs”.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said the Southeast Asian country would continue engagement with the US “towards a balanced, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive trade agreement.”
Lawrence Loh, the director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore Business School, said Asian countries are limited in their ability to present a united front in the face of Trump’s threats due to their varying trade profiles and geopolitical interests.
“It is not possible for these countries, even for a formal pact like ASEAN, to act in a coordinated manner. It’s likely to be to each country on its own,” Loh told Al Jazeera, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“That’s the trump card for Trump.”
Loh said countries in the region will feel pressure to make concessions to Trump to avoid damage to their economies.
“On balance for Asian countries, not giving concessions will turn out more harmful than playing along with the US,” he said.
“Especially for the smaller countries with less bargaining power, retaliation is out of the question.”
The US stock market dipped sharply on Trump’s latest tariff threats, with the benchmark S&P 500 falling 0.8 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.9 percent.
But Asia’s major stock markets shrugged off the uncertainty, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up about 0.8 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI up about 1.4 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 up about 0.2 percent as of 05:00 GMT.
While the Trump administration has ramped up pressure on its trade partners to reach deals to avoid higher tariffs, only three countries so far – China, Vietnam and the United Kingdom – have announced agreements to de-escalate trade tensions.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent earlier on Monday teased the announcement of “several” agreements within the next 48 hours.
Bessent did not elaborate on which countries would be involved in the deals or what the agreements might entail.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a media briefing that Trump would send more letters this week and that the administration was “close” to announcing deals with other countries.
Calvin Cheng, the director of the economics and trade programme at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said that while US partners will be eager to negotiate relief from the tariffs, many governments may be resigned to higher taxes on their exports going forward.
“In my view, many will likely be under greater pressure to deploy every available institutional and political lever to address legitimate US trade concerns, particularly around tightening rules of origin and legitimate IP [intellectual property] concerns,” Cheng told Al Jazeera.
“However, there could also be a cognisance that current tariff lines are more durable than expected, so measures could shift towards targeted accommodation, while preparing domestic exporters and industries for a future of trade where a significant proportion of this tariff barrier is likely to remain.”
“My personal view is that the bulk of the current tariff rate is stickier than perhaps initially assumed,” Cheng added.
“Future concessions could be within single-digit percentage points off the average rate.”
Eduardo Araral, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, expressed a similar view.
“Unless Tokyo, Seoul and key ASEAN capitals can bundle tariff relief with credible paths on autos, agriculture, digital trade and – in some cases – security alignment before 1 August, the higher rates will likely stick, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already litigated and politically fraught tariff regime,” Araral told Al Jazeera.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday placed a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, citing persistent trade imbalances with the two crucial U.S. allies in Asia.
Trump provided notice of the tariffs to begin Aug. 1 by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of both countries. The letters warned both countries to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” Trump wrote in the letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
The letters were not the final word from Trump on tariffs, so much as another episode in a global economic drama in which the U.S. president has placed himself at the center. His moves have raised fears that economic growth will slow to a muddle, if not make the U.S. and other nations more vulnerable to a recession. But Trump is confident that tariffs are necessary to bring back domestic manufacturing and fund the tax cuts he signed into law Friday.
The S&P 500 stock index was down nearly 1% in Monday afternoon trading, while the interest charged on the 10-year U.S. Treasury noted had increased to nearly 4.39%, a figure that could translate into elevated rates for mortgages and auto loans.
Trump has declared an economic emergency to unilaterally impose the taxes, suggesting they are remedies for past trade deficits even though many U.S. consumers have come to value autos, electronics and other goods from Japan and South Korea. But it’s unclear what he gains strategically against China — another stated reason for the tariffs — by challenging two crucial partners in Asia who could counter China’s economic heft.
“These tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” Trump wrote in both letters.
Because the new tariff rates go into effect in roughly three weeks, Trump is setting up a period of possibly tempestuous talks among the U.S. and its trade partners to reach new frameworks.
Trump initially sparked hysteria in the financial markets by announcing tariff rates on dozens of countries, including 24% on Japan and 25% on South Korea. In order to calm the markets, Trump unveiled a 90-day negotiating period during which goods from most countries were taxed at a baseline 10%.
The 90-day negotiating period technically ends before Wednesday, even as multiple administration officials and Trump himself suggested the three-week period before implementation is akin to overtime for additional talks.
Administration officials have said Trump is relying on tariff revenues to help offset the tax cuts he signed into law on Friday, a move that could shift a greater share of the federal tax burden onto the middle class and poor as importers would likely pass along much of the cost of the tariffs. Trump has warned major retailers such as Walmart to simply “eat” the higher costs, instead of increasing prices in ways that could intensify inflation.
Trump’s team promised 90 deals in 90 days, but his negotiations so far have produced only two trade frameworks.
His trade framework with Vietnam was clearly designed to box out China from routing its America-bound goods through that country, by doubling the 20% tariff charged on Vietnamese imports on anything traded transnationally.
The quotas in the United Kingdom framework would spare that nation from the higher tariff rates being charged on steel, aluminum and autos, still British goods would generally face a 10% tariff.
The United States ran a $69.4-billion trade imbalance in goods with Japan in 2024 and a $66-billion imbalance with South Korea, according to the Census Bureau.
According to Trump’s letters, autos would be tariffed separately at the standard 25% worldwide, while steel and aluminum imports would be taxed 50%. The broader 25% rates on Japan and South Korea would apply to goods not already covered by the specific sectoral tariffs.
This is not the first time that Trump has tangled with Japan and South Korea on trade — and the new tariffs suggest his past deals made during his first term failed to deliver on his administration’s own hype.
In 2018 during Trump’s first term, his administration celebrated a revamped trade agreement with South Korea as a major win. And in 2019, Trump signed a limited agreement with Japan on agricultural products and digital trade that at the time he called a “huge victory for America’s farmers, ranchers and growers.”
Brazil’s President Lula responded to Trump’s tariff threats by saying the world does not ‘want an emperor’ who lashes out over the internet.
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to hike tariffs against the BRICS economic bloc, after the group offered indirect criticism of trade wars and the recent military attacks in Iran.
On Monday, Trump took aim at the 10-member bloc, which seeks to strengthen emerging economies, framing its interests as adversarial to the US’s.
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff,” Trump wrote in a post. “There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
BRICS is named for its founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. But it has grown to include other countries including Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Over the weekend, the group held its 17th summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The meeting culminated in a declaration angled at promoting peace and global cooperation.
But several items in the joint declaration appeared aimed at the US and its ally Israel, even though neither was identified by name. Under a section entitled “Strengthening Multilateralism and Reforming Global Governance”, for instance, the BRICS leaders called out the increasing use of tariffs in global trade.
This seemed directed at Trump, who has threatened US trading partners with a suite of tariffs in order to negotiate more favourable trade deals and exact policy concessions.
The US president has also called tariffs “the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary”, though many economists warn the cost of such import taxes is often offset onto consumers.
Trump has also championed the use of other protectionist economic policies, under the banner of his “America First” agenda. But the BRICS leaders warned that these kinds of policies could backfire.
“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules,” the BRICS leaders said in their statement.
Such measures, they continued could “reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities, potentially exacerbating existing economic disparities”.
The BRICS leaders also used their declaration to denounce the recent military strikes on one of the bloc’s member nations, Iran.
“We condemn the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since 13 June 2025, which constitute a violation of international law,” they wrote, adding that “peaceful nuclear facilities” had been targeted.
Israel carried out the first attacks against Iran in the 12-day war on June 13, and on June 22, the US sent seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to Iran to strike three nuclear facilities. Both Israel and the US have maintained these actions were necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, though Iran has denied seeking one.
In the wake of Trump’s tariff threat, BRICS leaders rushed to assure their US counterparts that they are not seeking confrontation. Others, however, chafed at Trump’s remarks.
“I became aware of what President Trump tweeted, and I think there needs to be greater appreciation of the emergence of various centres of power in the world,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. “And this should be seen in a positive light, rather than in a negative light.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took an even blunter approach to Trump’s threats.
“I don’t think it’s very responsible or serious for the president of a country as big as the United States to go around threatening the world through the internet,” Lula said in a question-and-answer session with reporters.
“It’s not right. The world has changed. We don’t want an emperor.”
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s decision to hike tariffs once again on some of America’s largest trading partners rattled markets on Monday, dashing hopes on Wall Street that the White House would cut any significant trade deals, as it had promised, by the middle of this week.
In a series of letters sent to foreign leaders, and promptly posted by the president to his social media platform, Trump said the new rates amount to the cost of doing business with “the extraordinary Economy of the United States, The Number One Market in the World, by far.” Under the new policy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Kazakhstan will face 25% import duties starting Aug. 1, while goods from Laos and Myanmar will face a 40% tariff, according to the letters.
South Africa’s president also received a letter, stating goods from the country imported to the United States would face duties of 30%.
Markets recoiled at the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 1.4%, the Nasdaq falling 1.2% and the Standard & Poor’s 500 sinking 1.2%.
The move essentially returns U.S. tariff rates on those countries to those Trump first announced on April 2, on what he called Liberation Day, but that he ultimately abandoned over widespread Wall Street panic that began spooking the bond market.
Trump hit pause on the crisis by announcing a 90-day suspension of the higher tariff rates, a period set to expire Wednesday. But the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Monday that Trump would extend the deadline to the end of the month.
Several senior officials in the Trump administration had promised a slew of trade deals would follow the April episode — “we’re going to run 90 deals in 90 days,” said Peter Navarro, the president’s top trade advisor. Yet the administration has failed to secure a single detailed trade deal, instead announcing three frameworks of understanding with the United Kingdom, China and Vietnam.
“The president is taking a very deliberate approach to correcting this wrong of many decades, of many past presidents — I think he should be commended for the time and the effort that he’s putting into this,” Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing.
“The fact that he has announced a framework with China, a trade deal with the U.K., a trade deal with Vietnam and many others to come in just six months is truly historic, and it’s a testament to this president and his trade team,” she added.
In his letters to foreign leaders, Trump warned that any effort by their governments to retaliate would be met with escalation.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” he wrote.
Leavitt said more letters would be sent in the coming days. She also stated that additional trade deals could be announced soon. “We are close,” she said.
Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, told CNBC in an interview that his inbox was “full last night with a lot of new offers” for trade deals ahead of the now-defunct Wednesday deadline.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations,” Bessent said. “So it’s going to be a busy couple of days.”
The stock market reaction to Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, which hiked rates on countries all around the world, was an historic rout, eviscerating trillions of dollars in value, with the Standard & Poor’s index bleeding 12% in just four days.
Markets recovered within weeks, after Trump reversed course, with the S&P hitting a record high on July 3.
US President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff.
“Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on social media.
Trump has long criticised Brics, an organisation whose members include China, Russia and India.
The US had set a 9 July deadline for countries to agree a trade deal, but US officials now say tariffs will begin on 1 August. Trump said he would send letters to countries telling them what the tariff rate will be if an agreement is not reached.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected “a busy couple of days”.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” he told CNBC.
So far, the US has only struck trade agreements with the UK and Vietnam, as well as a partial deal with China.
Although, Britain and America have still not reached a deal over taxes for UK steel imported by the US.
Since taking office this year, Trump has announced a series of import tariffs on goods from other countries, arguing they will boost American manufacturing and protect jobs.
In April, on what he called “Liberation Day”, he announced a wave of new taxes on goods from countries around the world – with some as high as 50% –although he quickly suspended his most aggressive plans to allow for three months of talks up until 9 July.
During this period, the US implemented a 10% tariff on goods entering the States from most of its international trading partners.
The European Union (EU) is reportedly in talks to keep a provisional 10% tax in place for most goods shipped to the US beyond the deadline.
It is also in discussions about reducing a 25% tariff on EU cars and parts and a 50% tax on steel and aluminium sales to the US.
On Monday, a spokesperson said that the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump. Just a few weeks ago, the US president had threatened the EU with a 50% tax unless it reached an agreement.
Letters going out
Asked whether the taxes would change on 9 July or 1 August, Trump said at the weekend: “They’re going to be tariffs, the tariffs are going to be tariffs.”
He added that between 10 and 15 letters would be sent to countries on Monday advising them on what their new tariff rate will be if they don’t agree a deal.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that the taxes will come into force on 1 August.
Last week, Trump said Japan could face a “30% or 35%” tariff if the country failed to reach a deal with the US by Wednesday.
Last year, the list of Brics members expanded beyond the original group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The countries in the bloc – which was designed to boost the nations’ international standing and challenge the US and western Europe – account formore than half of the world’s population.
The threat by Trump on Sunday to countries working with Brics nations emerged after members criticised US tariff policies as well as proposing reforms to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and how major currencies are valued.
Following a two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brics finance ministers issued a statement criticising tariffs as a threat to the global economy, and bringing “uncertainty into international economic and trade activities”.
Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary general of the International Chambers of Commerce, said it would be challenging for countries to move away from doing business with China.
He told the BBC’s Today programme: “Shifting away from China…in a number of sectors is far more difficult to achieve in the world in practice.
“You look at the dominance China has in a number of sectors – EVs, batteries [and] particularly rare earths and magnets, there are no viable alternatives to China production.”
What trade deals has the US agreed?
As of 7 July, the White House has agreed:
a deal with the UK to cut tariffs on UK cars and parts from 27.5% to 10% up to a quota of 100,000 vehicles. Taxes on aerospace goods have been cut to zero. In return, the UK has agreed to remove import taxes on US ethanol and beef.
a deal with Vietnam whereby Vietnamese goods shipped to America will be taxed at 20% and US products exported to Vietnam will face no tariffs. Any goods “trans-shipped” through Vietnam by another country that are sold into the US will be taxed at 40%.
a partial deal whereby US taxes on some Chinese imports fell from 145% to 30% and China’s tariffs on some US goods were cut from 125% to 10%. China has also halted and scrapped other non-tariff countermeasures, such as the export of critical minerals to the US.
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The global economy is on tenterhooks in the run-up to United States President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline for dozens of countries to reach trade deals or face sharply higher tariffs.
Wednesday’s deadline comes after Trump announced in April a 90-day pause on his steepest tariffs after his “Liberation Day” plans sent markets into a tailspin.
With billions of dollars in global trade at stake, US trade partners are racing to negotiate deals to avoid damage to their economies amid continuing uncertainty over Trump’s next moves.
What will happen when the deadline expires?
The Trump administration has indicated that trade partners that fail to reach deals with the US will face higher tariffs, but there are big question marks around which countries will be hit and how hard.
On Sunday, Trump said he would begin sending letters to particular countries this week outlining new tariff rates, while also indicating that he had sealed a number of new trade deals.
Trump told reporters that he would send a letter or conclude a deal for “most countries”, without specifying any by name, by Wednesday.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries that do not reach a deal would face higher tariffs from August 1.
Bessent disputed the suggestion that the deadline had moved and said tariffs for affected countries would “boomerang back” to the levels originally announced on April 2.
On Friday, however, Trump suggested the tariffs could go as high as 70 percent, which would be higher than the 50 percent maximum rate outlined in his “Liberation Day” plan.
Adding to the uncertainty, Trump on Sunday threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on countries that aligned themselves with the “anti-American policies” of BRICS, a bloc of 10 emerging economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as the founding members.
“There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“It’s getting harder to guess what might happen given conflicting information from the White House,” Deborah Elms, the head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.
“With the lack of ‘deals’ to announce before July 9, I’m not surprised that the US is both issuing threats of new, potentially higher rates to be imposed in letters and suggesting that deadlines could be extended to some if offers are deemed to be sufficiently attractive.”
Which countries have reached trade deals with the US?
So far, only China, the United Kingdom and Vietnam have announced trade deals, which have reduced Trump’s tariffs but not eliminated them.
Under the US-China deal, tariffs on Chinese goods were reduced from 145 percent to 30 percent, while duties on US exports fell from 125 percent to 10 percent.
The deal, however, only paused the higher tariff rates for 90 days, rather than scrapping them outright, and left numerous outstanding issues between the sides unresolved.
The UK’s agreement saw it maintain a 10 percent tariff rate, while Vietnam saw its 46 percent levy replaced by a 20 percent rate on Vietnamese exports and a 40 percent tariff for “transshipping”.
A host of other key US trade partners have confirmed that negotiations are under way, including the European Union, Canada, India, Japan and South Korea.
Trump administration officials have indicated that negotiations are primarily focused on a dozen-and-a-half countries that make up the vast bulk of the US trade deficit.
On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the EU, the US’s largest trading partner, was working to conclude a “skeletal” deal that would defer a resolution on their most contentious differences before the deadline to avoid Trump’s mooted 50 percent tariff.
India’s CNBC-TV18 also reported on Sunday that New Delhi expected to finalise a “mini trade deal” within the next 24-48 hours.
The CNBC-TV18 report, citing unnamed sources, said the agreement would see the average tariff rate set at about 10 percent.
Andrew K McAllister, a member of Holland & Knight’s International Trade Group in Washington, DC, said while Trump is likely to announce a small number of deals that resemble those signed with China, Vietnam and the UK, most countries are probably looking at significant across-the-board tariffs.
“My view is that tariffs are here to stay,” McAllister told Al Jazeera.
“I view the bargaining chip to be the level at which the tariff is set. For countries in which the president and administration view tariffs and other non-tariff barriers against US products as significant, he is much more likely to impose higher levels of tariffs.”
What will be the economic impact of Trump’s trade war?
Economists widely agree that steep tariffs over a sustained period would push up prices and hinder the growth of both the US and global economies.
The World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last month downgraded their outlook for the global economy, cutting their forecasts from 2.8 percent to 2.3 percent, and from 3.3 percent to 2.9 percent, respectively.
At the same time, anticipating the impact of Trump’s trade war has been made more challenging by his administration’s repeated U-turns and conflicting signals on tariffs.
Trump’s steepest tariffs have been put on pause, though a 10 percent baseline duty has been applied to all US imports and levies on Chinese exports remain at double-digit levels.
JP Morgan Research has estimated that a 10 percent universal tariff and a 110 percent tariff on China would reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent, with the hit to GDP falling to 0.7 percent in the case of a 60 percent duty on Chinese goods.
So far, the fallout from the tariffs introduced has been modest, though analysts have warned that inflation may still take off once businesses burn through inventory stockpiles built up in anticipation of higher costs.
Despite fears of sharp price rises in the US, annualised inflation came in at a modest 2.3 percent in May, close to the Federal Reserve’s target.
The US stock market, after suffering steep losses earlier this year, has bounced back to an all-time high, while the US economy added a stronger-than-expected 147,000 jobs in June.
Other data points to underlying jitters, however.
Consumer spending fell 0.1 percent in May, according to the US Commerce Department, the first decline since January.
“As for the economy generally, the jury’s out on whether we’re still waiting on the worst of the tariff hit,” Dutch bank ING said in a note on Friday.
“The delay in China’s tariff levels probably came just in time to avert a more serious recessionary threat. The latest jobs report certainly doesn’t point to the bottom falling out of the labour market, though if we’re talking about time lags, this is usually the last place economic damage shows up. Sentiment remains fragile, remember.”
July 6 (UPI) — Tariffs are set to return to previous levels on the first of August for countries that haven’t agreed on new deals, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, just three days prior to the Trump administration’s July 9 deadline for tariffs to return, that it would be notifying 100 smaller countries that “if you don’t move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level.”
The tariffs were originally set to take effect in April but were pushed back to this Wednesday while countries worked with the Trump administration to reach new deals on products from their countries, a window that allowed dozens of countries to work out the details of between 10% and 50%.
The Trump administration has said reaching deals with some countries has been increasingly difficult.
August 1st is not a new deadline, Bessent said Sunday, but an opportunity to arrive at new tariff deals.
“We are saying this is when it’s happening,” Bessent said Sunday. “If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”
The administration has signaled that there may be some flexibility around the new timeline for key trading partners, but National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” President Donald Trump would make the ultimate decision.
“There are deadlines, and there are things that are close, and so maybe things will push back the dead, past the deadline,” Hassett said. “In the end the president’s going to make that judgment.”
The administration did not name the 12 countries that it would be communicating with this week about the tariff negotiations.
July 5 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said letters will now go out on Monday to 12 countries with a final “take it or leave it” offer on tariff negotiations, pushing the date forward by two days.
Trump did not name the 12 countries, adding that news would be made public on Monday.
The president told reporters earlier in the week the letters would start going out on Friday but has since postponed the date.
“I signed some letters and they’ll go out on Monday, probably twelve,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force 1.
“Different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs.”
A 90-day pause instituted in April on Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs of different sizes expires on July 9. A separate 10% “baseline” U.S. tariff on all countries is unrelated.
The letters are expected to be sent by July 9, Trump told reporters this week.
The pause was meant to give countries time to negotiate a deal with the Trump administration, but only a few have been finalized to date. Several other nations and the European Union have said they are not close.
Japan has said a deal with the United States on tariffs remains “unlikely,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the three-month window was not long enough to properly negotiate a comprehensive agreement.
This week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said negotiations on a tariff deal with the United States were “not very easy.”
“They’ll range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs, but they’re going to be starting to go out sometime tomorrow,” Trump told reporters earlier in the week, confirming the 90-day pause would end as scheduled.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month the deadlines are flexible in his understanding and that he expects negotiations to continue with the possibility of further deals getting done before Labor Day.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that tariff negotiations with the United States were “not very easy” at a press conference to mark his first 30 days in office Thursday. Pool Photo by Kim Min-hee/EPA
SEOUL, July 3 (UPI) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday that his government is working hard to strike a trade deal with the United States on impending tariffs but expressed doubt as to whether talks will be concluded before next week’s deadline.
“It is clear that tariff negotiations are not very easy,” Lee said at a press conference marking his first 30 days in office.
“We need to create a mutually beneficial result that is helpful to both parties, but it has not yet been clearly defined what the two parties want,” he said.
South Korea is facing 25% tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump as part of his sweeping package of “Liberation Day” trade measures. Trump announced the tariffs in April but quickly put their implementation on hold for 90 days — a deadline that is approaching on July 8.
Tariffs on steel and automobiles, two key industries in South Korea, are already in place.
South Korea is seeking an extension on the 90-day pause and sent a delegation to Washington last week to ask for an exemption from all U.S. reciprocal and product-specific tariffs.
Lee said Thursday that it was “difficult to confirm whether we can conclude tariff negotiations by July 8.”
“But I can tell you that we are continuing to work hard,” he said. “We are also exploring many topics for our discussion from various perspectives. I can only say that we will do our best.”
Lee took office last month in a snap election precipitated by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law attempt in December. In his first press conference as president, Lee focused his remarks on restoring economic growth and stabilizing people’s livelihoods.
“The top priority is to relieve the suffering of the people and create a country that grows and leaps forward again,” he said.
Domestic political turmoil and an uncertain trade environment have shaken the export-dependent Asian powerhouse, which saw its economy unexpectedly shrink in the first quarter of the year.
In late May, the Bank of Korea lowered its GDP growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5% in February to 0.8%, citing a slow recovery in domestic demand and the expected impact of U.S. tariffs. At the same time, the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time since October, lowering it by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%.
Since taking office, President Lee has pledged to boost the economy through fiscal stimulus and other policy measures.
Last month, the government announced a second supplementary budget worth more than $14.7 billion, which will include cash handouts, debt relief measures and investments in sectors such as construction and artificial intelligence. The move follows a $10.1 billion package that was previously approved by parliament.
Lee also vowed on Thursday to work toward improving relations with North Korea on a tense Korean Peninsula.
“We will thoroughly prepare for provocations, while resuming severed communications between the South and the North and opening the way for peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and cooperation,” he said.
The president pointed to his recent order for the suspension of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ to North Korea as a positive step. Pyongyang responded by stopping its own loudspeaker blasts of bizarre noises such as metallic screeching and animal sounds.
“As North Korea has recently responded to the government’s preemptive suspension of broadcasts to the North, I believe that a virtuous cycle of peace is possible,” Lee said.
The United States will place a lower-than-promised 20 percent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, President Donald Trump has said, cooling tensions with its 10th-biggest trading partner days before he could raise levies on most imports.
Vietnamese goods will now face a 20 percent tariff, and any transshipments from third countries through Vietnam will face a 40 percent levy, Trump said, announcing the trade deal on Wednesday. Vietnam would accept US products with a zero percent tariff, he added.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” Trump said on Truth Social after speaking with Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam.
Trump’s announcement comes just days before a July 9 deadline he set to resolve negotiations before he ramps up tariffs on most imports, one of the Republican’s signature economic policies.
Under that plan announced in April, US importers of Vietnamese goods would have had to pay a 46 percent tariff.
The Vietnamese government said in a statement that the two countries agreed on a joint statement about a trade framework. It did not confirm the specific tariff levels mentioned by Trump.
Vietnam would commit to “providing preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars”, the government in Hanoi said.
A deal between the two countries would be a political boost for Trump, whose team has struggled to quickly close deals with Washington’s biggest trading partners ahead of the deadline.
While the administration has teased a forthcoming deal with India, truces reached earlier with the United Kingdom and China were limited in scope. Talks with Japan, the sixth-largest trading partner for the US and closest ally in Asia, appeared deadlocked.
“Vietnam has been very keen to get out from under this,’’ said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “This is forcing a smaller country to eat it, basically. We can do that. It’s the big countries that everybody’s keeping their eyes on.’’
She said she doubts that Trump will be able to impose such a lopsided agreement on big trading partners such as the European Union and Japan.
The US is Vietnam’s largest export market, and the two countries’ growing economic, diplomatic and military ties are a hedge against Washington’s biggest strategic rival, China. Vietnam has worked to retain close relations with both superpowers.
Shares of major US apparel and sportswear makers, including Nike, Under Armour and North Face maker VF Corp, rose on the news.
Lam also asked Trump for the US to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and remove restrictions on the exports of high-tech products to the country, Vietnam said. Those changes have long been sought by Hanoi and dismissed by Washington.
The White House and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade did not respond to requests for additional comment.
Growing trade ties
Since Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods in his 2017-2021 term, US trade with Vietnam has exploded.
Since 2018, Vietnam’s exports have gone up nearly threefold, from less than $50bn that year to about $137bn in 2024, Census Bureau data shows. US exports to Vietnam are up only about 30 percent in that time – to just over $13bn last year from less than $10bn in 2018.
Washington complains that Chinese goods have been dodging higher US tariffs by transiting through Vietnam.
William Reinsch, a former US trade official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the significance of the transshipment crackdown will depend on “how the term is defined and enforced. Some transshipment is outright fraud – simply changing the label; some is a legitimate substantial transformation in Vietnam into a new product; and there is a lot in between. Enforcement is always complicated”.
Details were scarce, and it was not immediately clear how any transshipment provision aimed at products largely made in China and then finished in Vietnam would be implemented.
Trump announced a wave of tariffs for countries around the world on April 2, before pausing the implementation of most duties until July 9. More than a dozen countries are actively negotiating with the Trump administration to avoid a steep spike in tariffs on their exports.
The UK accepted a 10 percent US tariff on many goods, including autos, in exchange for special access for aircraft engines and British beef.
Like the agreement struck with the UK in May, the one with Vietnam resembles more a framework than a finalised trade pact.
China and the US also came to a truce in a tit-for-tat tariff battle in which Beijing restored American access to some rare earth minerals, but the two sides left most of their disagreements to later negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a “30% or 35%” tariff on Japan if a deal between the two countries is not reached before a deadline next week.
That would be well above the 24% tariff Japan was hit with as part of Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” on 2 April, when he announced steep import duties on countries around the world.
The tariffs on most trading partners were later lowered to 10% for 90 days to give them time to negotiate deals with Washington.
That pause is due to expire on 9 July and Trump has said he is not thinking of extending the deadline.
Trump also continued to cast doubt that an agreement could be reached with Tokyo.
“We’ve dealt with Japan. I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal. I doubt it,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.
Japan’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
Like many other countries, most of Japan’s exports to the US currently face a 10% levy. There is also a 25% import tax on Japanese vehicles and parts, while steel and aluminium are subject to a 50% tariff.
Earlier on Tuesday Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said he would not make concessions that could hurt his country’s farmers to strike an agreement with Washington.
The comments came after Trump criticised countries over their trade policies towards the US, focussing on Japanese rice imports.
“To show people how spoiled Countries have become with respect to the United States of America, and I have great respect for Japan, they won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump originally said he would sign 90 trade agreements during the pause on the new tariffs but since then only the UK has struck a deal with the US.
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said late Sunday that trade talks with the U.S. have resumed after Canada rescinded its plan to tax U.S. technology firms.
President Trump said Friday that he was suspending trade talks with Canada over its plans to continue with its tax on technology firms, which he called “a direct and blatant attack on our country.”
The Canadian government said that “in anticipation” of a trade deal “Canada would rescind” the digital services tax, which was set to go into effect Monday.
Carney and Trump spoke on the phone Sunday, and Carney’s office said they agreed to resume negotiations.
“Today’s announcement will support a resumption of negotiations toward the July 21, 2025, timeline set out at this month’s G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis,” Carney said in a statement.
Carney visited Trump in May at the White House, where he was polite but firm. Trump traveled to Canada for the Group of 7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, where Carney said that Canada and the U.S. had set a 30-day deadline for trade talks.
Trump, in a post on his social media network last Friday, said Canada had informed the U.S. that it was sticking to its plan to impose the digital services tax, which applies to Canadian and foreign businesses that engage with online users in Canada.
The digital services tax was due to hit companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3% levy on revenue from Canadian users. It would have applied retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2-billion bill due at the end of the month.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, called Carney’s retreat a “clear victory” for Trump.
“At some point this move might have become necessary in the context of Canada-U.S. trade negotiations themselves, but Prime Minister Carney acted now to appease President Trump and have him agree to simply resume these negotiations, which of a clear victory for both the White House and big tech,” Béland said.
He said it makes Carney look vulnerable to Trump’s outbursts.
“President Trump forced PM Carney to do exactly what big tech wanted. U.S. tech executives will be very happy with this outcome,” Béland said.
Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne issued a statement after speaking Sunday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“Rescinding the digital services tax will allow the negotiations of a new economic and security relationship with the United States to make vital progress,” his statement said.
Trump’s announcement Friday was the latest swerve in the trade war he’s launched since taking office for a second term in January. Progress with Canada has been a roller coaster, starting with the U.S. president poking at the nation’s northern neighbor and repeatedly suggesting it would be absorbed as a U.S. state.
Canada and the U.S. have been discussing easing a series of steep tariffs Trump imposed on goods from America’s neighbor.
Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as 25% tariffs on autos. He is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period he set would expire.
Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling, though some products are still protected under the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump’s first term.
South Korea’s chief trade negotiator Yeo Han-koo (R) met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (C) and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Monday. Photo courtesy of South Korea Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
SEOUL, June 24 (UPI) — South Korea has asked to be exempted from all U.S. reciprocal and product-specific tariffs at the first high-level talks under the new administration of President Lee Jae Myung, Seoul’s Trade Ministry said Tuesday.
Chief trade negotiator Yeo Han-koo held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Monday.
During the meeting, Yeo “emphasized the importance of gaining exemption from reciprocal tariffs and product tariffs, such as automobiles and steel, and reaffirmed the will of both sides to reach a mutually beneficial agreement as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a press release.
South Korea is facing 25% tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump as part of his sweeping package of “Liberation Day” trade measures. Trump announced the tariffs in April but quickly put their implementation on hold for 90 days — a deadline that is approaching on July 8.
Tariffs on steel and automobiles, two key industries in South Korea, are already in place.
Yeo told the U.S. side that tariff talks had been limited by political turmoil and a leadership vacuum in South Korea over the past several months, the ministry said. President Lee took office earlier this month in a snap election precipitated by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law attempt in December.
“Now that the new government has secured democratic legitimacy and mandate, there is an opportunity to advance full-scale negotiations,” Yeo said, according to the ministry.
He also stressed that the ongoing negotiations are not only about tariffs, but also aim to foster strategic cooperation across various manufacturing sectors.
“South Korea and the United States have closely linked industrial supply chains and require mutual cooperation, so we will work to establish a new framework for the manufacturing partnership between the two countries through these negotiations,” Yeo said.
The uncertain trade environment has shaken the export-dependent Asian powerhouse, which saw its economy unexpectedly shrink in the first quarter of the year.
In late May, the Bank of Korea lowered its GDP growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5% in February to 0.8%, citing a slow recovery in domestic demand and the expected impact of U.S. tariffs. At the same time, the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time since October, lowering it by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%.
Since taking office, President Lee has pledged to boost economic growth and support people’s livelihoods through fiscal stimulus and other policy measures.
Last week, the government announced a second supplementary budget worth more than $14.7 billion, which will include cash handouts, debt relief measures and investments in sectors such as construction and artificial intelligence.
The move follows a $10.1 billion package that was approved by parliament last month.
On Monday, Lee directed government ministries to address the economic fallout from the ongoing Middle East crisis, including adding measures to the upcoming supplementary budget, if necessary.
