U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs to punish or favor major trading partners on Wednesday, as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.
South Korea squeezed in at the last moment, securing agreement on a 15% tariff for exports to the United States—significantly below the 25% that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.
But Trump also announced crippling 50% tariffs on Brazil and a 25% levy on Indian exports, while warning Canada it would face trade repercussions for planning to recognize a Palestinian state.
Trump hit Brazil with high tariffs as well as sanctions against the judge overseeing a trial of his right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup in Latin America’s biggest economy.
India would face an unspecified ‘penalty’ over purchases of Russian weapons and energy as well, Trump said. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.
Canada’s trade relations with the United States also came under threat after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the U.S. president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”
The U.S. leader insisted Wednesday that the August 1 deadline ’will not be extended’ any further.
