The White House took a step forward with President Trump’s plan to remake the trade landscape by releasing new details Thursday evening that included a raft of new tariff rates, now formally authorized by executive order, which set levels from 10% to 40% on nearly every global trading partner.
The move represents a giant shakeup in the US’s trade order, outlining a 35% tariff on Canada (up from 25% currently) as well as rates above 30% on nations from South Africa to Switzerland.
But there’s a last minute catch, as nearly all these new rates (except for Canada’s) will not go into effect for seven days, instead of a midnight Friday deadline Trump had previously set.
“These modifications shall be effective … on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 7 days after the date of this order,” reads the now signed order.
The new tariff rate on Canada is under a different order focused on illicit drugs and and will take effect Friday, as originally planned.
For other nations, the order also allows for an additional delay, with lower, previous rates applied to goods that are loaded onto ships before Aug. 7 that then enter the United States before Oct. 5.
But once the new tariffs are in effect, they will be far-reaching.
India, after initial high hopes for a deal that have bogged down in recent weeks, is set to face a 25% rate, though negotiators there now appear to have another week to make offers.
Taiwan is another top US trading partner and is set to see a 20% rate.
The White House documentation released Thursday also confirmed some of the parameters of recent deals with other top trading partners, including a 15% rate on the European Union, South Korea, and Japan.
It also confirmed that 19%-20% rates are in the offing for a range of Southeast Asian nations and an unchanged 10% rate is set for the United Kingdom.
Thursday’s advancement did come after one significant delay Thursday, with a 90-day pause on new tariffs on Mexico, as the president decided to keep rates at 25% after a “very successful” phone call, according to Trump.
Dozens of other smaller trading partners saw their tariff rates upped to 15% from 10%, with some nations not included in Tuesday’s release.
Those excluded countries included many nations with which the US currently has a trade surplus. They are set to see their rates remain at 10%, in a surprise for some after comments from Trump in recent days suggested 15% would be his new minimum.
Thursday’s order also includes a focus on the growing issue of transshipping, promising an additional tariff of 40 percent for any goods deemed “to have been transshipped to evade applicable duties” without providing a further definition on what would meet that standard.
