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    Holding your nerve in Trump’s tariff maelstrom

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    Trump Keeps Foreign Countries on Edge as Tariff Deadline Nears

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    The president is again threatening higher tariff rates on a dozen foreign nations, as a deadline elapses this week for making trade deals.President Trump is set to rekindle economic pressure on America’s trading partners this week, as a deadline for making trade deals elapses and the administration begins notifying countries of the tariffs they’ll face on exports to the United States.For 90 days, the administration has been trying to reach trade pacts with dozens of countries in an attempt to lower economic barriers to U.S. exports. In April, the president imposed stiff global tariffs on nearly every trading partner but paused most of those levies until July 9 to try and win concessions.So far, the United States has reached only two preliminary trade deals, with Britain and with Vietnam, which are scant on details and leave much to be worked out.More such limited trade deals could be announced in the coming days, including an initial trade framework with India. Countries that have so far agreed to trade deals, even preliminary handshake agreements, have qualified for lower tariff rates than what Mr. Trump threatened in April.Other countries that have not reached agreements are expected to face sharply higher tariffs, although the president and his advisers have recently implied that the tariffs may not go into effect until Aug. 1, rather than on July 9.Still, with tariffs threatening to strain diplomatic relations and bring some global commerce to a halt, a delay of a few weeks may not to do much to soothe many foreign governments. It could also further unsettle financial markets, which revolted when Mr. Trump initially announced his global tariffs, a meltdown that prompted Mr. Trump to institute the 90-day delay.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on countries that align with ‘Anti-American’ BRICS policies

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    Trump’s announcement came as the BRICS bloc of developing countries is meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    The bloc’s leaders took aim at Trump’s sweeping tariff policies in a joint statement over the weekend.
    The U.S. tariffs announced in April will take effect on Aug. 1, instead of July 9, for countries that have not reached a deal with Washington.

    President of the United States Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to a crowd at an America250 rally in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, on July 3, 2025.
    Kyle Mazza | Anadolu | Getty Images

    U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened an additional 10% tariff on countries that orient themselves along the “Anti-American policies of BRICS.”
    Trump’s announcement, which did not elaborate on any specific policy of BRICS, came as the group’s meeting is underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    The bloc’s leaders appeared to take aim at Trump’s sweeping tariff policies in a joint statement on Sunday, warning against “unjustified unilateral protectionist measures, including the indiscriminate increase of reciprocal tariffs.”
    Without calling out the U.S., the leaders voiced “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” warning that the “proliferation of trade-restrictive actions” threaten to disrupt the global economy and worsen the existing economic disparities.
    “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Sunday evening stateside.
    Trump could have been provoked by the BRICS leaders’ joint statement taking a thinly veiled swipe at his tariff policies, said Stephen Olson, former U.S. trade negotiator and current visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
    By “anti-American” policies, the president may be referring to “the desire expressed by BRICS members to move beyond a U.S.-led world order in finance and global governance,” said Olson, adding that how that alignment will be assessed was “anyone’s guess.”

    This year’s BRICS host country Brazil did not respond to CNBC’s request for comments.
    The BRICS group of developing nations also offered symbolic backing to fellow member, Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on the country, without naming Israel or the U.S which carried out the military operation.
    The bloc includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran. The grouping describes itself as “a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries from the Global South and for coordination in the most diverse areas.”
    The bloc seeks to challenge Western-dominated institutions of global economic governance, as well as to supplant the U.S. dollar’s role in the global economy, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
    This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Premier Li Qiang to the BRICS meeting in his absence, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, attended online.
    In response to Trump’s threat of 10% extra duty, a spokesperson for Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular press briefing Monday that China opposed any action of using tariffs as “a tool to coerce others.”
    “China has been consistent in opposing any tariff war, trade war,” the spokesperson said, adding that “arbitrarily slapping tariffs does not serve the interests of any party.” That’s according to CNBC’s translation of her comments in Mandarin.
    Separately, Trump confirmed that the U.S. will start delivering letters on Monday, detailing country-specific tariff rates and any agreements reached with various trading partners. That affirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments over the weekend.
    The Trump administration has said that tariffs announced in April will take effect on Aug. 1, instead of July 9, for countries that have not reached an agreement with the U.S.
    Bessent rejected the idea that Aug. 1 was yet another new tariff deadline. “We are saying this is when it’s happening, if you want to speed things up, have at it, if you want to go back to the old rate that’s your choice,” Bessent said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
    In April, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the steep tariffs he had unveiled just days prior on most trading partners. That pause is due to expire on Wednesday, sparking concern among investors and U.S. trading partners.
    — CNBC’s Erin Doherty, Lim Hui Jie contributed to this story. More

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    Growing pains and absent leaders hang over Brics summit

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    Bessent Says He Expects Trade Deals by This Week’s Deadline

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    But the Treasury secretary also said that some countries working toward agreements with the United States could have until Aug. 1.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he was confident the Trump administration would be able to reach deals with some countries before the deadline on Tuesday for steep tariffs would take effect.But he also held out the possibility that the deadline could be extended to Aug. 1 for countries seeking to reach deals.“There’s a lot of foot dragging on the other side, and so I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” Mr. Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added, “We’re going to be very busy over the next 72 hours.”In addition, Mr. Bessent said that the administration would begin informing countries about the tariff rates they could face if they did not quickly reach trade agreements with the United States.“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don’t move things along, then, on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Mr. Bessent said. “So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly.”Mr. Bessent’s comments came just three days before a 90-day pause on Mr. Trump’s steepest levies is set to expire. Mr. Trump first mentioned the possible Aug. 1 extension in comments to reporters on Air Force One on Friday night.“It’s not a new deadline,” Mr. Bessent said Sunday. “We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”Mr. Trump announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs, in early April, only to suspend them shortly after, when the threat of the steep duties roiled global financial markets. So far, the United States has reached preliminary trade deals with Vietnam and the United Kingdom, far from Trump’s goal of 90 deals in 90 days.Mr. Bessent said he was confident that the administration would be able to reach deals within the next few days once the letters were sent out. “We have the leverage in this situation,” he said. More