US President Donald Trump vowed to push forward his aggressive tariff regime in the coming days, emphasizing that he would not extend the tariffs on specific countries that were originally set to take effect in early August, while hinting that he might announce new hefty tariffs on copper and drug imports.
Before Trump made the above remarks on social media and at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, traders initially dismissed a series of letters and executive orders he issued on Monday, which postponed the deadline for so-called “reciprocal” tariffs while announcing his plans to impose the latest tariffs on more than a dozen countries that failed to successfully reach a quick trade deal.
On Tuesday, the situation changed as Trump indicated his renewed determination to push forward with plans to impose heavy tariffs on foreign imports.
Trump said he would not further extend tariffs on specific countries, despite admitting the night before that he was “not 100% sure” about the August 1 deadline. He expected to release updates on the trade status of at least seven countries in the morning of Wednesday, Washington time, and more information in the afternoon.
The president said that he would impose a 50% tariff on copper products exported to the United States, which led to a record high in the futures price in the United States, while the global benchmark price dropped.
He also told reporters that although progress has been made in trade agreements with the EU, his dissatisfaction with the EU’s taxation and fines on US tech companies could lead him to unilaterally announce new tariff rates within the next two days.
Just a few hours after Trump said that a trade deal with India was about to be reached, he stated that he would still impose an additional 10% tariff on Indian imports to support India’s entry into the BRICS mechanism.
Furthermore, he indicated that if pharmaceutical companies do not shift their production to the United States next year, they might be subject to import taxes as high as 200%.
When talking about trade partners, Trump said, “We want to build relationships, but in every case, they treat us much worse than we treat them.”
The S&P 500 index fluctuated as investors assessed the latest trade news. US Treasuries also joined the decline in the global long-term bond market. Asian stocks fell for the third time in four days in Wednesday’s trading.
Trump announced on social media in the morning that his new tariffs will take effect in early August, despite speculation that he might delay the implementation of the harshest tariffs again.
Tariffs will be due and payable starting on August 1, 2025. To date, this date has not changed and will not change in the future, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “In other words, all payments will be due and payable starting on August 1, 2025 – no extensions.”
Trump began notifying trading partners of new tariff rates on Monday, while this week was the original deadline for countries to complete trade negotiations with the Trump administration. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC shortly after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he expected 15 to 20 more letters to be sent out in the next two days.
But the new letter unilaterally imposed tariffs on countries that failed to reach an agreement, while also issuing an executive order to postpone the tariff date by three weeks, which actually gave trading partners more time to extend negotiations.
This warning – coupled with Trump’s suggestion that he is still negotiating more deals – has sparked speculation among some in Washington and on Wall Street that the president will not follow through on his latest tariff threats.
On Tuesday, Trump spoke to reporters at a cabinet meeting in a tougher tone. He said that although he had previously indicated that a trade deal with India was close, he still planned to punish India for its participation in the BRICS forum. Trump claimed that this group of developing countries was “set up to hurt us.”
Trump said, “I can play this game too. Any of the BRICS countries will be subject to a 10% tariff.”
Trump also said that despite reports of progress in trade talks between the United States and the European Union, he was about to send a letter to the EU unilaterally setting tariff rates. The president said that although European countries are now “very friendly to us”, he is still frustrated by the long-standing trade deficit and digital service taxes and fines that affect US technology companies.
Trump said, “We may not send them the letter for another two days. I just want you to know that one letter means one deal.”
Trump also said that he would issue more letters in the coming days, imposing tariffs of 60% or 70% on some countries.
Trump also said that he still plans to impose tariffs on specific industries such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and metals.
When asked by reporters about the tariff rates on these products, Trump said, “I think we’ll raise the tariff on copper to 50%.”
After Trump’s remarks, the S&P 500 Pharmaceuticals Index declined, and the share prices of Eli Lilly, Merck and Pfizer gave back earlier gains.
