WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will keep minimum global tariff rates at 10 per cent, resisting prior suggestions he could raise the floor to 15 per cent or higher, according to a White House statement July 31.
The White House issued a statement just hours before midnight, the deadline Mr Trump set in July after pausing his country-based tariffs for a second time to allow for negotiations. It was unclear exactly when the new rates would take effect.
Market reaction was muted in early Asian trading, showing investors were unsurprised by Trump’s announcement. The Canadian dollar and the South African rand little changed, while the Thai baht held a small decline. The Swiss franc edged lower.
The White House separately released a list of tariff rates on imports from several other trading partners that had yet to finalise trade frameworks as his Aug 1 deadline nears.
Some of which were expected, such as a 25 per cent levy on Indian exports. Others included charges of 20 per cent on Taiwanese products, 39 per cent on Swiss goods and 30 per cent on South African products. Thailand and Cambodia, two countries that were said to have struck a last-minute deal, received a 19 per cent duty.
A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Thursday that countries were sorted into three groups: 10 per cent for those with which the US has a goods trade surplus, roughly 15 per cent for countries that reached deals or with which the US runs a modest trade deficit in goods, and higher rates for countries that didn’t strike deals and with which the US runs large goods deficits.
Other details are still forthcoming, including details on higher rates for certain exports that are transshipped, or routed through another country, the official said. The US goods trade surplus with Singapore was US$2.8 billion (S$3.6 billion) in 2024, suggesting that Singapore’s exports to the US would receive a 10 per cent duty.
Mr Trump also signed a separate order that increases the tariff rate on Canada to 35 per cent from 25 per cent, with the higher levy taking effect on Aug 1. That change excludes goods that are covered under a US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact he negotiated in his first term.
In a fact sheet, the White House argued that “by imposing tariffs on countries with nonreciprocal trade practices, President Trump is incentivising manufacturing on American soil and defending our industries”.
The rates come hours before Mr Trump’s self-imposed deadline, and will hit a wide range of mostly smaller- and medium-sized economies countries that Mr Trump showed little interest in bargaining with.
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/trump-modifies-reciprocal-tariffs-ahead-of-deadline-rate-on-singapore-likely-to-remain-at-10