US President Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking at the White House on 2 April, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP
A range of new tariffs are expected to take effect on Friday on most US trading partners, with separate sector specific duties on copper also coming into place.
As the countdown began towards his deadline, President Donald Trump unveiled a flurry of trade announcements including a deal with South Korea to avert higher levies, and postponement of a planned tariff hike on Mexican goods.
Here's a look at the most recent developments:
Mexico
Trump said on Thursday (US time) 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 percent to 30 percent come 1 August, citing a lack of progress in flows of illicit fentanyl.
Goods entering the United States under an existing North American trade deal covering a wide swath of items have been spared.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum Photo: Alfredo Estrella / AFP
South Korea
Just days before the tariff deadline, Washington and Seoul reached a deal to avert a 25 percent duty on South Korean goods, bringing the level down to 15 percent instead.
In making the announcement on Wednesday, Trump said the country also committed to US$350 billion (NZ$590b) in investments and to purchase $100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other energy resources.
The 15 percent rate matches levels determined from US accords with Japan and the European Union.
Tariffs on automobiles will also stay at 15 percent, Seoul said.
Canada
Trump 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.
Canada faces a tariff threat of 35 percent from 1 August, up from 25 percent currently with key exemptions.
"Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them."
US President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2025. Photo: AFP / Mandel Ngan
Brazil
Trump's measures against Brazil are openly political, overriding long-standing trade ties.
He announced 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, although delaying their imposition from 1 August to 6 August 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.
India
Trump on Wednesday (US time) said Indian goods would face a 25 percent US tariff starting on 1 August, 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.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Kazan on 23 October 23, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Pool/ Maxim Shipenkov
New Zealand
Trump on Friday (NZ time), hit New Zealand with [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/568698/new-zealand-hit-with-surprise-15-percent-trump-trade-tariff a 15 percent tariff.
The White House had originally said New Zealand goods would face a 10 percent levy.
European Union
EU exports to the United States are set to face tariffs of 15 percent on most products after both sides struck a deal to avoid a higher 30 percent level.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said some agricultural products would be exempt under the agreement struck on 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.
-AFP
