ZURICH/WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners sent global stock markets tumbling on Friday and countries and companies scrambling to seek ways to strike better deals.
As Trump presses ahead with plans to reorder the global economy with the highest tariff rates since the early 1930s, Switzerland, “stunned” by 39 per cent tariffs, sought more talks, as did India, hit with a 25 per cent rate.
New tariffs also include a 35 per cent duty on many goods from Canada, 50 per cent for Brazil, 20 per cent for Taiwan. Taiwan said its rate was “temporary” and it expected to reach a lower figure.
The presidential order listed higher import duty rates of ten per cent to 41 per cent starting in a week’s time for 69 trading partners, taking the US effective tariff rate to about 18 per cent, from 2.3 per cent last year, according to analysts at Capital Economics.
Global shares stumbled, with Europe’s STOXX 600 down by 1.8 per cent on the day and 2.5 per cent on the week, on track for its biggest weekly drop since Trump announced his first major wave of tariffs on April 2. Wall Street also opened sharply lower on Friday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.5 per cent, bringing the total loss this week to roughly 2.7 per cent. In commodity markets, oil prices continued to fall after a one per cent plunge on Thursday.
Trump’s new tariffs have created yet more uncertainty, with many details unclear. They are set to take effect on August 7 at 0401 GMT, a White House official said.
The European Union, which struck a framework deal with Trump on Sunday, is still awaiting more Trump orders to deliver on agreed carve-outs, including on cars and aircraft, EU officials said, saying the latest executive orders did not cover that.
Also, it is unclear how the administration intends to define and police the transshipment restrictions, which threaten 40 per cent levies on any exporter deemed to have tried to mask goods from a higher-tariffed originator, such as China, as their own product.
The new tariffs will kick in at what has become a perilous moment for the US economy, with US data on Friday showing employment growth was weaker than thought previously.
Trump’s tariff rollout also comes amid evidence they have begun driving up prices.
US Commerce Department data released Thursday showed prices for home furnishings and durable household equipment jumped 1.3 per cent in June, the biggest gain since March 2022. (Reuters)
