Former President Donald Trump has announced his intention to impose significant tariffs on goods imported from 14 countries, marking a shift in U.S. trade policy that could affect international relations and domestic industries. These tariffs go into effect on August 1. They range up to 60% and cover many countries in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Trump has threatened a gigantic 40% tariff on goods imported from these two nations, Myanmar and Laos. On top of that, he wants to slap a 36% tariff on imports from Thailand and Cambodia. Serbia and Bangladesh will now be subject to a 35% tariff, and Indonesia a 32% tariff. South Africa’s goods will be hit with a whopping 30% tariff. At the same time, Malaysia and Tunisia will be subject to a punitive 25% tax on their exports to the US market.
Earlier this month, Trump announced these tariff plans in letters he sent to the heads of state of the affected countries. He stated that the tariffs could be adjusted “upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country.” This indicates that diplomatic relations will be central in determining how these tariffs will be enforced.
The former president argues that imposing these tariffs is a necessary measure to protect American businesses from foreign competition and to bolster domestic manufacturing jobs. Trump has previously expressed similar sentiments regarding tariffs on products entering the U.S. from Japan and South Korea, announcing a planned 25% tax on those imports.
Aside from these direct new tariffs, Trump has allegedly finalized or agreed to settlement terms with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, too. He has indicated progress towards a partial trade deal with China, as well as a close deal with India. These negotiations are the latest manifestation of Trump’s continued push to remake America’s trade relationships to benefit U.S. interests.
Trump threatened a 50% tariff on the European Union if a deal didn’t materialize. Now, he is actually going through with that threat, announcing the imposition of higher tariffs as a follow-up, to our great dismay. Back in April, he claimed the original tariffs were “reciprocal.” He defended them as warranted preemptive strikes against what he claimed was unfair trade practices by other countries.
As Scott Bessent noted, it’s a pretty rapid speed of where conversations on trade policy are going. Despite all that went on, he deemed it “a quiet two days.” The sense of urgency behind these negotiations underscores just how consequential upcoming tariff revisions will be. Taken together, these changes would fundamentally reshape many aspects of the U.S. economy.
“The president’s phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal.” – Karoline Leavitt
These increased tariffs were scheduled to be implemented starting July 9. To facilitate further negotiations, officials suspended them. Now that the new implementation date is almost here, both businesses and governments are preparing for the impact that these revisions will bring.