WASHINGTON
\nUS President Donald Trump has announced a fresh wave of steep import duties, targeting dozens of countries \u2014 including Pakistan with 19% reciprocal tariff, ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline.
\nThe move is part of his wider effort to shake up global trade rules. Pakistan now joins a list of 69 nations whose goods will face new US tariffs, ranging from 10% to 41%, starting next week. Trump said that the new tariffs are meant to fix what he sees as unfair trade imbalances and protect US economic and security interests.
\nTrump released an executive order listing higher import duty rates of 10% to 41% starting in seven days for 69 trading partners as the 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT) deadline approached. Some of them had reached tariff-reducing deals, and some had no opportunity to negotiate with his administration.
\nThe order said that goods from all other countries not listed in an annex would be subject to a 10% US tariff rate. Trump\u2019s order stated that some trading partners, \u201cdespite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgement, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters.\u201d
\nTrump issued a separate order for Canada that raises the rate on Canadian goods subject to fentanyl-related tariffs to 35% from 25% previously, saying Canada had \u201cfailed to cooperate\u201d in curbing fentanyl flows into the US. The higher tariffs on Canadian goods contrasted sharply with Trump\u2019s decision to grant Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30% on many goods to provide more time to negotiate a broader trade pact.
\nA US official told reporters that more trade deals were yet to be announced as Trump\u2019s higher \u201creciprocal\u201d tariff rates were set to take effect. \u201cWe have some deals,\u201d the official said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to get ahead of the President of the United States in announcing those deals.\u201d
\nRegarding the steep tariffs on goods from Canada, the second largest US trading partner after Mexico, the official said that Canadian officials \u201chaven\u2019t shown the same level of constructiveness that we\u2019ve seen from the Mexican side.\u201d
\nThe extension for Mexico avoids a 30% tariff on most Mexican non-automotive and non-metal goods compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade and came after a Thursday morning call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
\n\u201cWe avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow,\u201d Sheinbaum wrote in an X social media post, adding that the Trump call was \u201cvery good.\u201d Approximately 85% of US imports from Mexico comply with the rules of origin outlined in the USMCA, shielding them from 25% tariffs related to fentanyl, according to Mexico\u2019s economy ministry.
\nTrump said the US would continue to levy a 50% tariff on Mexican steel, aluminium and copper, and a 25% tariff on Mexican autos and on non-USMCA-compliant goods subject to tariffs related to the US fentanyl crisis.
\n\u201cAdditionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,\u201d Trump said in a Truth Social post without providing details. Korea deal, India discord South Korea agreed on Wednesday to accept a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, including autos, down from a threatened 25%, as part of a deal that includes a pledge to invest $350 billion in US projects to be chosen by Trump.
\nBut goods from India appeared to be headed for a 25% tariff after talks bogged down over access to India\u2019s agriculture sector, drawing a higher-rate threat from Trump that also included an unspecified penalty for India\u2019s purchases of Russian oil.
\nAlthough negotiations with India were continuing, New Delhi vowed to protect the country\u2019s labour-intensive farm sector, triggering outrage from the opposition party and a slump in the rupee. Trump\u2019s rollout of higher import taxes on Friday comes amid more evidence they have begun driving up consumer goods prices.
\nCommerce Department data released Thursday showed prices for home furnishings and durable household equipment jumped 1.3% in June, the biggest gain since March 2022, after increasing 0.6% in May. Recreational goods and vehicles prices rose 0.9%, the most since February 2024, after being unchanged in May. Prices for clothing and footwear rose 0.4%.
\nTough questions from judges Trump hit Brazil on Wednesday with a steep 50% tariff as he escalated his fight with Latin America\u2019s largest economy over its prosecution of his friend and former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from heavier levies.
\nThe run-up to Trump\u2019s tariff deadline was unfolding as federal appeals court judges sharply questioned Trump\u2019s use of a sweeping emergency powers law to justify his steep tariffs of up to 50% on nearly all trading partners.
\nTrump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare an emergency over the growing US trade deficit and impose his \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs and a separate fentanyl emergency.
\nThe Court of International Trade ruled in May that the actions exceeded his executive authority, and questions from judges during oral arguments before the US Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit in Washington indicated further scepticism.
\nUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier that the United States believes it has the makings of a trade deal with China, but it is \u201cnot 100% done,\u201d and still needs Trump\u2019s approval.
\nUS negotiators \u201cpushed back quite a bit\u201d over two days of trade talks with the Chinese in Stockholm this week, Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.
\nChina is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump\u2019s administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump has announced a fresh wave of steep import duties, targeting dozens of countries \u2014 including Pakistan with 19% reciprocal tariff, ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline. The move is part of his wider effort to shake up global trade rules. Pakistan now joins a list of 69 nations whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n