Trump Announces New Tariffs, Sparking Trade Tensions

The image captures cargo ships laden with containers at the Port of Los Angeles in California, United States, taken on May 10, 2025.

On Thursday, local time, then-US President Donald Trump declared the United States would implement a 35 percent tariff on imports from Canada the following month. He also planned to impose tariffs of either 15 percent or 20 percent on most other trade partners, as reported by Reuters on Friday.

According to Reuters, Trump informed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that the new tariff rate would take effect on August 1st and would increase if Canada retaliated. Prior to announcing the 35 percent tariff on Canadian imports, Trump stated his intention to impose blanket tariffs of 15 percent or 20 percent on most trade partners. He dismissed concerns that further tariffs could negatively impact the stock market or increase inflation, as reported by NBC News.

Trump was quoted by the network as saying, "We're just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it's 20 percent or 15 percent. We'll work that out now." He added that members of the European Union and Canada would receive letters notifying them of the new tariff rates "today or tomorrow," according to NBC News.

The Trump administration had previously released a second wave of letters to US trading partners in Asia, Africa, and Europe, including the Philippines and Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. Furthermore, media reports indicated that the US would also impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, starting August 1st.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed a desire to find a diplomatic solution to the US's threat of a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian exports. However, he vowed to reciprocate if the tariffs took effect on August 1st. Lula stated in an interview, "We'll first try to negotiate, but if there's no negotiation, the law of reciprocity will be put into practice." He cited a law recently passed by Congress that granted the president the power to retaliate against trade barriers, adding, "If they're going to charge us 50, we'll charge them 50.