Photo: CFP

In a statement issued Thursday evening, the White House said US President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders that included increasing tariffs on dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline, including a 35 percent duty on many goods from Canada, 50 percent for Brazil, 25 percent for India, 19 percent for Thailand and 39 percent for Switzerland, foreign media outlets reported.

A Chinese expert warned the move will pose a steep challenge for all trading nations. It will expose businesses to significant cost disparities and ongoing compliance uncertainty, resulting in supply chain disruptions and soaring freight costs, foreshadowing a wider impact.

These pair of executive orders also included increasing tariffs on Canada from 25 percent to 35 percent and laid out specific tariff rates for about 70 other countries. The new tariff regime will go into effect on August 7, CNN reported.

The sweeping tariff hikes have drawn fierce opposition from leaders and officials from various countries involved, some of whom are already promising retaliatory measures.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the tariff increase concerning and said Ottawa should retaliate with 50 percent tariffs on US steel and aluminum, the CBC reported on Thursday. "Canada shouldn't settle for anything less than the right deal," Ford said on the social media platform X. "Now is not the time to roll over. We need to stand our ground."

Vowing to protect workers, businesses and communities from the impact of tariffs, Ford said the federal government needs to "hit back" with a 50 percent tariff on US steel and aluminum.

The federal government needs to maximize our leverage and stand strong in the face of President Trump's tariffs, Ford posted. "Our government will do whatever is needed to support workers and businesses. We're building a more competitive, self-reliant and resilient economy by speeding up approvals, building new infrastructure to diversify our trading partners and onshoring every widget we can to fortify home-grown supply chains."

Trump has set a whopping 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, one of the highest rates yet levied by the US, the BBC reported.

In response, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in an interview with the New York Times that "these tariffs are based on politics and personal sensitivities, not economics," adding that he was studying retaliatory tariffs against American exports if Trump carries through with his tariff threats.

"But that doesn't make us afraid," he added. "It makes us concerned." "Be sure that we are treating this with the utmost seriousness. But seriousness does not require subservience," the Brazilian president said. 

Goods from India appeared to be headed for a 25 percent tariff after talks bogged down over access to India's agriculture sector, drawing a higher-rate threat from Trump that also included an unspecified penalty for India's purchases of Russian oil, Reuters reported.

Although negotiations with India were continuing, New Delhi vowed to protect the country's labor-intensive farm sector, Reuters reported.

On July 30, India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a statement saying that the Indian government has noted the US President's statement on bilateral trade, and will take all necessary measures to safeguard national interests. Dilip Kumar, chairman of the medical tourism sector at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, stated that the tariffs imposed by the US on India will be passed on to American consumers, the CCTV News reported.

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell warned the mooted tariff hike would be damaging. "Our position is unchanged - any tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm," Farrell's spokesman said.
"We will continue to engage at all levels to advocate for the removal of all tariffs, in line with our free trade agreement with the United States," the AFR reported.

Trump said Thursday that he would postpone higher tariffs on Mexico, writing on social media Truth Social that he had agreed to a 90-day extension with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to provide more time to cut a trade deal, Reuters reported.

Thus far, Mexico has not retaliated against any of the tariffs Trump has imposed. However, Sheinbaum has repeatedly vowed to slap higher tariffs on American goods were Trump to impose higher tariffs on Mexican goods, according to CNN.

New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay told local radio station on Friday that the government is still waiting to hear what that increase will be. He said there are indications that the new minimum base line tariff rate will be 15 percent, and it's an "anxious time for exporters," the omny.fm reported.

The US is again wielding calibrated tariff threats to force trading partners such as Canada and others to rewrite domestic policies and lock in bilateral deals favorable to Washington, Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

Zhou warned the move will pose a steep challenge for all trading nations. It will expose businesses to significant cost disparities and ongoing compliance uncertainty, resulting in supply chain disruptions and soaring freight costs, foreshadowing a wider impact.

When asked for comment on the Trump administration's executive order imposing tariffs on a majority of trading partners, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Friday said China's position on abuse of tariffs has been consistent and clear. There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars, protectionism leads nowhere and will harm the interest of all parties, Guo said.