The White House has sent letters to more than 20 different countries this week announcing new tariffs.
United States President Donald Trump has issued a new round of tariff letters to eight countries, including Brazil, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova and the Philippines.
Posted on social media on Wednesday, the letters assign individual tariff rates for each country. Algeria, Sri Lanka and Iraq received import tax rates of 30 percent. Brunei, Libya and Moldova got 25 percent. And the Philippines was assigned 20 percent.
Brazil, however, got the highest tariff rate of the bunch, at 50 percent. In his letter, Trump cited “grave injustices” including alleged Brazilian censorship and attacks on “free elections”. Trump has previously shown support for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who, like the US president, refused to concede a past defeat.
Trump posted the letters on Truth Social after the expiration of a 90-day negotiating period that began with a baseline levy of 10 percent. Trump is giving countries more time to negotiate before his August 1 deadline, but he has insisted there will be no extensions for the countries that receive letters.
US reports trade imbalances
The Census Bureau reported that last year, the US ran a trade imbalance on goods of $2.6bn with Sri Lanka, $1.4bn with Algeria, $5.9bn with Iraq, $900m with Libya, $4.9bn with the Philippines, $111m with Brunei and $85m with Moldova.
The imbalance represents the difference between what the US exported to those countries and what it imported. None of the countries listed are major industrial rivals to the United States.
Taken together, the trade imbalances with those seven countries are essentially a rounding error in a US economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $30 trillion.
With Brazil, meanwhile, the US enjoys a trade surplus of $7.4bn. It exports $49.7bn worth of goods to Brazil, while only importing $42.3bn in return.
Wednesday’s letters are the latest in a slate the Trump Administration sent to nations around the globe. On Monday, he threatened Japan and South Korea with 25 percent tariffs, stepping up pressure on the two historical US allies and a dozen other economies to reach trade deals with Washington.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration began sending letters to countries informing them that the US would begin to reimpose the tariffs it postponed in April. Trump’s erratic approach to tariffs is triggering widespread economic effects on the US and countries around the world.
US GDP shrinks
In the US, the most recent jobs report showed little to no growth in sectors including trade and construction, industries largely impacted by tariffs. The US GDP contracted 0.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce’s report last month.
This comes amid a handful of looming trade negotiations across the globe that will impact the US economy and many of its key trade partners.
The Trump administration has only put forth two trade agreements thus far, which are with the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
US markets have stayed stable despite the new tariffs. As of 12:30pm Eastern Time (16:30 GMT), the Nasdaq is up 0.5 percent. The S&P 500 is about even with the market open, only up about 0.2 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by 0.1 percent.