If Trump is stuck to his third deadline, many countries will face sudden collections, including a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil and a 30% tariff on the European Union.
You need to know about President Donald Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline
Starting August 1st, President Donald Trump’s new tariffs will come into effect in many countries.
President Donald Trump, who stands in a rose garden and holds a huge chart, likes to call himself a “customs man.”
It was April 2nd, and it named Trump’s “Liberation Day.”
After almost four months and two extensions, the new deadline for August 1 is approaching. Many countries face sudden tariffs, including a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil and a 30% tariff on the European Union. There is a 10% baseline tariff left in all countries.
“We have straight, simple tariffs of 15% to 50%,” Trump said at the AI Summit in Washington on July 23.
Are new tariffs really coming?
Is there another extension? Trump said no. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent recently left the door open for a third reprieve.
The first deadline on April 9 was suspended until 90 days – July 9 after causing significant turbulence in financial markets and economists warned of the possibility of a recession.
“I thought people were in line a bit,” Trump said on April 9th.
The change to Trump’s deadline has produced an acronym: Taco, Trump is constantly driving out chickens and laughing at his elevated tariff policies.
Pause – Tariff storm
On July 7, two days before the new tariffs came into effect, Trump extended the deadline to August 1, saying several countries were negotiating transactions. Trump also began sending letters to the country on July 7th, informing them of new, updated tariffs to be imposed on them.
The first batch of 14 letters, including South Africa and Malaysia, revealed that target tariffs would be even higher if they retaliated against the US with their own tariffs. On July 9, he sent a customs letter to eight other countries, including Brazil. So far, the US has sent 25 customs letters, White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said on July 23.
What kind of trade transactions have you been put into action so far?
The UK was the first country to reach a trade agreement with the US, but so far the latest and most important deal was with Washington’s fifth largest trading partner, Japan.
Other countries Trump has announced deals in recent months include Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
On July 22nd, Trump announced a “large deal” with Japan, under which the US will impose a 15% tariff on Japanese imports. Trump previously threatened Japan’s 24% tariffs.
He said Japan will invest $550 billion in the US, and the US will receive 90% of its profit without providing details. His announcement also said Japan has agreed to open a market for importing vehicles, rice and other agricultural products from the US.
Of the five countries where the US attacked trade contracts, it operates only a trade surplus with the UK.
Taco time?
In an interview with CNBC on July 21, Bessent was uncommitted about whether there could be an extension of the country to negotiate in good faith.
“We’ll see what the president wants to do,” Bescent said.
He added that returning to the sudden tariffs originally proposed after the deadline could force the state to raise favorable terms.
“But again, once somehow the boomerang comes back… I think a higher tariff level will put more pressure on us to get a better deal,” Bescent said.
Meanwhile, Trump repeatedly said that the deadline “no change.”
“In other words, all money will be paid and paid from August 1, 2025 – no extensions will be allowed,” he wrote on July 8th of Truth Society.
What’s happening with tariffs in Canada, Mexico and China?
Trump threatened 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada shortly after winning the election.
Ten days after taking office, Trump chased after the top three US trading partners and imposed a 25% tariff on almost every item from Canada and Mexico. Trump said it was about forcing the country to block the flow of immigration and fentanyl across borders. Meanwhile, China was hit by a 10% tariff.
Canada and Mexico responded quickly with their own retaliatory tariffs.
Two days later, Trump agreed to a 30-day hiatus. In March, Trump waived tariffs on goods compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMC) and exempts 25% universal tariffs imposed on steel, aluminum and automobile imports, including those from Mexico and Canada.
Tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper were raised to 50% in June – Canada is the largest supplier of steel and aluminum for the US – tariffs on automobile imports remained stable.
Trump wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Kearney in July, saying he planned to impose a 35% tariff on imports from Canada.
Trump said fentanyl is the US’s “almost and only” challenge with Canada, with its trade barriers and non-tariff policies causing a “unsustainable” trade deficit.
“Canada charges extraordinary tariffs on dairy farmers (up to 400%), even assuming that dairy farmers have access to sell their products to Canadians,” Trump said in a letter.
In a letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump said the country helped “secur the border.” However, he said Mexico has not yet stopped the cartel trying to turn everything in North America into a drug trafficking playground.
After months of inexpensive tariffs and a trade war with China, US tariffs surged to 145%, and Chinese tariffs on US property reached 125%, and the two agreed to be called an armistice in May and expired on August 12th.
On June 11, Trump announced that the transaction, which is subject to “final approval” by both leaders, has been “complete.” He said that US tariffs will be set at 55% of imported Chinese goods, but China’s tariffs will remain at 10%.
Bescent, who will meet his Chinese counterpart in Stockholm, Sweden on July 28, indicated that the deadline is likely to be moved.
“We’re going to solve any potential extensions that could be,” Bessent told Fox Business on July 22.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA Today. x You can follow her at @swapnavenugopal
