Brazil calls duties ‘unacceptable blackmail’ as other seek talks with US; Trump contradicts reports Putin meeting Zelenskyy was precondition of US-Russia summit. Key US politics stories from Thursday 7 August 2025
Leaders all over the world were attempting to put contingencies in place after Trump’s tariff threats turned to reality at a minute past midnight Washington time on Thursday.
The Brazilian government said it was planning a state aid plan for companies affected while its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called the duties “unacceptable blackmail”.
Switzerland said it was seeking new talks with the US after a last-gasp mission to Washington by its president, Karin Keller-Sutter, failed to stop a 39% tariff blow that industry group Swissmem described as a “horror scenario”.
Tariffs are now at a level not seen in the US in almost 100 years, with Americans expected to pay an average of 18.3% more for imported products – the highest rate since 1934 – according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center.
