Washington: In an important development, United States president Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new tariffs on a broad range of US trading partners which will take effect on August 7. This will be the next step in the trade policies he intends to pursue and which will strain the global economy and the decades-old American alliances.Trump expected to meet with other world leadersThe order was signed Trump on Thursday around 7 p.m. The new restrictions seemed to follow a pattern, and with a sudden burst of tariff-related announcements, the administration was scrambling to meet the president’s Friday deadline during which he was expected to meet other world leaders.A senior administration official who was with-quote to reporters on a background call explained that tariffs will now be implemented with a delay so that all charges which are to be synchronized can be aligned.Base Index Tariff is set to 10%The order seemed to be the cap of a flurry of Thursday activity as countries strived to finalize new agreements with Trump. It set the base tariff for 68 countries plus the 27-member European Union, with an indexed rate of 10% to be charged to all countries not listed in the order.The senior administration official expressed that the rates were set according to the trade imbalance with the country and the economic contours of the region.90-Day Negotiation Window With MexicoTrump took a phone call with Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum regarding trade matters and was planning to meet with the President in the United States later that afternoon. Following the call, the President of the United States stated that he would initiate a 90-day negotiation period with Mexico, one of the country’s largest trading allies, noting that the existing 25% tariff would continue to be in place, reduced from 30% he threatened to impose in the prior negotiating cycle.“She avoided the tariff hike that was to be effective later today and managed to get 90 days of negotiating time to reach a working agreement in a conversation. In her words, the call was quite productive, and Trump referred to it as very successful with respect to the two saw each other which was good,” shared President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum where she uses X to communicate with the people.The enigmatic variables lent a flair of theatricality that has characterized Trump’s rollout of tariffs for a number of months. The one constant, however, was his intention to impose the import tariffs that most economists predict will, in one way or another, be passed on to American consumers and businesses.“Deals have been made that are good for US” - Trump narrates.“When asked what deals have been made, Trump smiles, and mentions, 'We have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country',” a reporter posts a live tweet now detailing the deals made, and the countries which are involved. A senior administration officer refrained from sharing which countries hold the new deals during their conversation with the reporters.Trump, while explaining the deals, mentioned that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, had called him during the implementation of 35 percent tariffs on a bulk of his country’s products. Trump continued, 'we haven't spoken to Canada today', indicating that they had plans on engaging later.Trump had set the deadline for Fridays which was a by-product of his previous 'Liberation Day' tariffs which were set to be enacted in April led to stock market panic. During the earlier mentioned April, the US enforced outrageously high tariffs which led to fears of recession which in turn caused the President to set a 90 day period for negotiations. After all of that, his timeline was shifted and he began to send letters to world leaders which listed rates, leading to an avalanche of last minute agreements.”Trump finalized a deal with South Korea on Wednesday, and with the European Union, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines earlier. Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick stated on Fox News Channel's “Hannity” that both Cambodia and Thailand had agreements with the United States after a deal on a ceasefire to their border conflict had been reached. Up until Thursday, rich Norway and Switzerland were still undecided on their tariff rates. EU representatives were waiting to finalize a landmark document detailing the framework on the taxation of imported automobiles and other goods from the 27-member state on the bloc. Trump had announced a deal on Sunday when he was in Scotland.
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