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 White House has said any country that does not agree to new terms of a trade deal with the U.S. by Friday will face the tariff rates Trump initially announced in April.

Trump's tariff deadlines loom as trade deals with countries like South Korea, the EU, and Japan are reached.