Trump’s new tariffs: What to know

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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump is getting ready to rev up his commerce conflict once more, at the same time as he extends a pause on some tariffs till subsequent month.

What simply occurred? Trump introduced new tariff charges on a number of international locations Monday in a slew of type letters, citing their “unsustainable Commerce Deficits” with the US. The tariffs — together with on Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and quite a few others — would take impact August 1.

The White Home additionally mentioned that beforehand introduced “reciprocal” tariffs, which had been set to take impact this week, could be suspended till August 1.

What’s the context? Trump introduced draconian tariffs on many international locations in April, solely to pause them per week later after monetary markets cratered. He left in place a ten p.c “international tariff,” in addition to tariffs on China (since lowered from their triple-digit highs).

Why is Trump doing this now? When Trump paused his tariffs in April, he mentioned he would use the following 90 days to strike commerce offers. However nearly 90 days later, comparatively few offers have been reached. Trump might now hope to drive the problem with renewed threats of financial ache.

Will any of those tariffs truly take impact? Trump’s commerce coverage has been mercurial, to explain it generously, and it’s even unclear how he’s deciding on new tariff charges. Beforehand, a drastic dip within the markets managed to spook him into backing down, and the markets reacted negatively to his Monday announcement — however it’s unclear what we must always anticipate at this level.

There’s additionally a pending courtroom case over the legality of Trump’s tariffs, which he has imposed utilizing emergency authority, however don’t anticipate a fast decision there, as a ruling by the US Court docket of Worldwide Commerce blocking the tariffs is presently on maintain.

And with that, it’s time to sign off…

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