Business
Trump sets 25% tariffs on Japan, S.Korea, and new import taxes on 12 other nations
Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea on July 8. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 8, (AP): US President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other nations that would go into effect on Aug.1. Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries.
The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs. “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” Trump wrote in the letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
The letters were not the final word from Trump on tariffs, so much as another episode in a global economic drama in which he has placed himself at the center. His moves have raised fears that economic growth would slow to a trickle, if not make the US and other nations more vulnerable to a recession. But Trump is confident that tariffs are necessary to bring back domestic manufacturing and fund the tax cuts he signed into law last Friday.
He mixed his sense of aggression with a willingness to still negotiate, signaling the likelihood that the drama and uncertainty would continue and that few things are ever final with Trump. “It’s all done,” Trump told reporters Monday. “I told you we’ll make some deals, but for the most part we’re going to send a letter.”
South Korea’s Trade Ministry said early Tuesday that it will accelerate negotiations with the United States to achieve a mutually beneficial deal before the 25% tax on its exports goes into effect. Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40%, Cambodia and Thailand at 36%, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35%, Indonesia at 32%, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%.
Trump placed the word “only” before revealing the rate in his letters to the foreign leaders, implying that he was being generous with his tariffs. But the letters generally followed a standard format, so much so that the one to Bosnia and Herzegovina initially addressed its woman leader, Željka Cvijanović, as “Mr. President.” Trump later posted a corrected letter.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on July 8, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 12, (AP): US President Donald Trump said in a letter that he will raise taxes on many imported goods from Canada to 35%, deepening a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. The Thursday letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is an aggressive increase to the top 25% tariff rates that Trump first imposed in March after months of threats.
Trump’s tariffs were allegedly in an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling despite the relatively modest trafficking in the drug from that country. Trump has also expressed frustration with a trade deficit with Canada that largely reflects oil purchases by America. “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter.
The higher rates would go into effect Aug. 1, creating a tense series of weeks ahead for the global economy as recent gains in the S&P 500 stock index suggest many investors think Trump will ultimately back down on the increases. But stock market futures were down early Friday in a sign that Trump’s wave of tariff letters may be starting to generate concern among investors.
In a social media post, Carney said Canada would continue to work toward a new trade framework with the U.S. and has made “vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl.” “Through the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and business,” Carney said. While multiple countries have received tariff letters this week, Canada – America’s second largest trading partner after Mexico – has become something of a foil to Trump.
It has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods and pushed back on the president’s taunts of making Canada the 51st state. Mexico has also faced 25% tariffs because of fentanyl, yet it has not faced the same public pressure from the Republican U.S. president. Carney was elected prime minister in April on the argument that Canadians should keep their “elbows up.” He has responded by distancing Canada from its intertwined relationship with the U.S., seeking to strengthen its links with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 9, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 10, (AP): US President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50% on Wednesday for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the U.S. leader’s use of tariffs. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss.
Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. “This Trial should not be taking place,” Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. “It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” There is a sense of kinship as Trump was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.
The US president addressed his tariff letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who bested Bolsonaro in 2022. Lula responded in a forceful statement that said Trump’s tariffs would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law, which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness.
He noted that the US has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years. “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone,” Lula said. Bolsonaro testified before the country’s Supreme Court in June over the alleged plot to remain in power after his 2022 election loss.
Judges will hear from 26 other defendants in the coming months, and legal analysts say a decision could come as early as September. The country’s electoral authorities have already barred Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030. The former president did not comment about Trump’s tariff decision on his social media channels, but wrote that he is being politically persecuted.
Head of the Kuwaiti Financial Intelligence Unit, Dr. Hamad Al-Mekrad, with the representative of the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit, Manish Herat, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
KUWAIT CITY, July 9: Kuwait’s Financial Intelligence Unit and India’s Anti-Money Laundering Bureau signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aiming to beef up cooperation on information exchange and financial intelligence efforts. In a statement to KUNA, the Kuwaiti financial watchdog’s chief Hamad Al- Mekrad said the deal, signed after a gathering of global financial watchdog body Egmont Group, is a testament to Kuwait and India’s collective commitment to boost transparency and cooperation, based on the principles and guidelines of the global financial organization of intelligence units.
The agreement is a major step forward towards clamping down on financial crime at a time of growing challenges that require greater cooperation and information exchange. The level of cooperation between the Kuwaiti and India financial intelligence units has been on an upward trajectory even before the new deal came to fruition, added the official, expecting the agreement to be instrumental in simplifying the flow of bilateral information exchange, he underlined.
Al-Mekrad noted that the priority now is to expand the scope of international cooperation, enhance the efficiency of information exchange under the highest standards, strengthen technical analysis capabilities, and build partnerships with counterpart units, thus contributing to protecting the national and global financial system from any illicit exploitation.(KUNA)
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Trump plans to hike tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%
