WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that set new tariffs on a wide swath of US trading partners to go into effect on Aug. 7 — the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy and sturdiness of American alliances built up over decades.
The order was issued shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday. It came after a flurry of tariff-related activity in the last several days, as the White House announced agreements with various nations and blocs ahead of the president’s self-imposed Friday deadline. The tariffs are being implemented at a later date in order for the rates schedule to be harmonized, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on a call on the condition of anonymity.
After initially threatening the African nation of Lesotho with a 50 percent tariff, the country’s goods will now be taxed at 15 percent. Taiwan will have tariffs set at 20 percent, Pakistan at 19 percent and Israel, Iceland, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana and Ecuador among the countries with imported goods taxed at 15 percent.
Trump had announced a 50 percent tariff on goods from Brazil, but the order was only 10 percent as the other 40 percent were part of a separate measure approved by Trump on Wednesday.
