President Donald Trump announced on Thursday steep tariffs on exports from dozens of U.S. trade partners that have not confirmed a trade pact in advance of a Friday deadline.
About 40 countries that the U.S. runs a trade deficit will now face a minimum 15% duty rate on exports.
Some U.S. trade partners will be hit with even steeper rates, such as 50% for goods from Brazil, 39% for Switzerland, 35% for Canada, 25% for India and 20% for Taiwan, according to a presidential executive order.
U.S. stocks were sinking in early trading on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping around 1.6%, the S&P 500 down 1.73%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite falling 2.33% as of 10 a.m. EST.
The latest round of “reciprocal” import tariff rates will start around Aug. 7, White House officials said.
Trump, in a phone interview with NBC News following the order, said he would be open to more trade negotiations, but it was “too late” for other nations to avoid tariffs set to kick by next week, CNBC reported.
“It doesn’t mean that somebody doesn’t come along in four weeks and say we can make some kind of a deal,” Trump said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he was “disappointed” by the increased tariff on Canadian goods shipped to the U.S.
“While the Canadian government is disappointed by this action, we remain committed to the [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement], which is the world’s second-largest free trade agreement by trading volume,” Carney said in a statement posted on social media.
“While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong.”
Canada ranked No. 2 for trade with the U.S. in May at $57.6 billion. Exports from Canada to the U.S. that could be impacted by the tariffs include aluminium, steel, lumber, cars and auto parts.
Goods that are covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will not be affected by tariffs, according to authorities in Canada and the U.S.
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