US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a blitz of tariff announcements on goods from Brazil and South Korea, to ending an exemption from tariffs for small-value shipments from overseas.
The wave of announcements came as the clock ticked down toward an August 1 deadline for higher US tariff rates, as Trump presses on with his bid to reshape global trade.
Capping a day that began with Trump announcing a 25 percent tariff rate on goods from India, after months of negotiations between Washington and New Delhi failed to produce a trade deal.
Trump plans to sign new executive orders on Thursday imposing higher tariff rates on several countries that have been unable to reach negotiated trade deals with the United States, Politico reported, citing a White House official.
Brazil tariffs
Trump on Wednesday slapped a 50 percent tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from the heavier levies.
That came as a relief for many in Brasilia, who since Trump announced the tariffs had been urging protections for major exporters caught in the crossfire. Shares of planemaker Embraer EMBR3.SA and pulpmaker Suzano rose.
“We’re not facing the worst-case scenario,” Brazilian Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told reporters. “It’s a more benign outcome than it could have been.”
The new tariffs will go into effect on August 6, not August 1 as Trump announced originally.
Sokor tariffs
Trump also announced the US will charge a 15 percent tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.
Imports from South Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel, had faced a 25 percent rate.
