Global Trade Shakeup: Trump Hikes Tariffs on Canada, Brazil, India

President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a range of new tariffs Thursday, due to take effect in one week on most US trading partners.

The import levies ranged as high as 41 per cent on Syria and included a hike on Canadian imports from the current 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

Trump said Thursday the United States would raise tariffs on certain Canadian goods from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.
He had warned of trade consequences for Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

Unlike the new levies hitting dozens of other economies, there is no delay and these begin Friday, according to a White House fact sheet.
Products covered by the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — which covers a wide swath of items — will be exempt from the tariff rate.

Trump’s order cited Canada’s failure to “cooperate in curbing the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs” as well as its “retaliation” against his measures.

Canada’s Carney said his government was “disappointed” with the hike, citing its efforts to crack down on fentanyl and increase border security.

Trump said he would delay imposing higher tariffs on Mexican imports, pushing back their rollout by 90 days.

The decision came after he spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The US leader had originally threatened to raise tariffs on Mexican products from 25 per cent to 30 per cent come August 1, citing a lack of progress in the flow of illicit fentanyl.

Goods entering the United States under the existing North American trade deal were spared.

Just days before the tariff deadline, Washington and Seoul reached a deal to avert a 25 per cent duty on South Korean goods, bringing the level down to 15 per cent instead.

In making the announcement Wednesday, Trump said the country also committed to $350 billion in investments and to purchase $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other energy resources.

The 15 per cent rate matches levels determined from US accords with Japan and the European Union.

Tariffs on automobiles will also stay at 15 per cent, Seoul said.

Trump’s measures against Brazil are openly political, overriding long-standing trade ties.

He announced 50 per cent tariffs on Brazilian goods, although delaying their imposition from August 1 to August 6 and exempting products like orange juice and civil aircraft.

The tariffs marked Trump’s follow-through on threats to use American economic power to punish Brazil — and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes — for what he has called a “witch hunt” against his far-right ally and former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump on Wednesday said Indian goods would face a 25 per cent US tariff starting August 1, slightly below an earlier threatened level.

The country would also face an unspecified “penalty” over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian weapons and energy, Trump said on social media.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump added in a separate post.

EU exports to the United States are set to face tariffs of 15 per cent on most products after both sides struck a deal to avoid a higher 30 per cent level.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said some agricultural products would be exempt under the agreement struck Sunday, though she did not specify which.

But France’s President Emmanuel Macron pledged to be “firm” in follow-up talks.

“It’s not the end of it,” Macron told ministers during a cabinet meeting.

Washington also announced a 39 per cent tariff on Swiss goods, higher than the 31 per cent rate it had been threatening to implement.

The Swiss government said Friday it would negotiate with the United States to try to avoid harm to its key pharmaceutical industry.

Notably excluded from the drama was China, which faces an August 12 deadline instead, when duties could bounce back to higher levels.

Washington and Beijing at one point brought tit-for-tat tariffs to triple-digit levels, but both countries have agreed to temporarily lower these duties and are working to extend their truce.

China on Friday warned that US protectionism “harms the interests of all parties”.

“The Chinese side’s opposition to tariffs has been consistent and clear,” foreign ministry