Osmond Chia
Business reporter, BBC News
Getty Images
US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world have come into effect.
Just before the deadline for deals to be agreed to cut or avoid the import taxes Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that billions of dollars were now flowing into the US due to tariffs.
Earlier, the president hit India with a 50% tariff, which will take effect on 27 August unless it stops buying Russian oil.
Trump also threatened a 100% tariff on foreign-made computer chips as he pushes tech firms to invest in the US. It came as Apple announced a new $100bn (£75bn) US investment after coming under pressure from the White House to move more production to America.
Last week, the Trump administration announced a revised list of import taxes on dozens of trading partners and extended a deadline for countries to reach agreements with the US to 7 August.
Countries have been racing to strike deals with Washington to lower – or scrap – what Trump calls “reciprocal tariffs”.
His trade policies are aimed at reshaping the global trading system, which he sees as treating the US unfairly.
Export-dependent economies in South East Asia were among the hardest-hit by the new tariffs.
Manufacturing-focused Laos and Myanmar faced some of the highest levies at 40%. Some experts said Trump appears to have targeted countries with close trade ties with China.
Stock markets in Asia seemed to take the news in their stride on Thursday.
Major share indexes in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and mainland China were a little higher, while markets in India and Australia were lower.
The latest set of tariffs will offer countries some stability after months of chaos, said economist Bert Hofman from the National University of Singapore.
“This is supposed to be it. Now you can start to analyse the impact of the tariffs.”
Some major economies – including the UK, Japan and South Korea – have already reached agreements to get lower tariffs than Trump threatened in April.
The European Union has also struck a framework deal with Washington, in which Brussels has accepted a 15% tariff on goods from the trading bloc.
Switzerland has said it will hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday after its officials were unable to reach a deal with the US.
At 39%, Switzerland’s tariff rate is one of the highest imposed by the US and threatens to hit the country’s economy hard.
Taiwan, a key Washington ally in Asia, was handed a 20% tariff. Its president Lai Ching-te said the rate is “temporary” and that talks with the US are still underway.
Last week, Trump boosted the tariff rate on Canada from 25% to 35%, saying the country had “failed to cooperate” in curbing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs across the US border. The Canadian government says it is cracking down on drug gangs.
But most Canadian exports to the US will dodge the import tax due to an existing trade treaty, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Higher tariffs on Mexico were paused for another 90 days as negotiations continue to strike a trade deal.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made semiconductors.
Major chipmakers that have made significant investments in the US appear to have dodged the new tariff. Government officials in Taiwan and South Korea have said in separate statements that TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung would be exempt from the new levy.
The White House did not immediately respond to a BBC request for clarification.
The BBC has also contacted SK Hynix and Samsung. TSMC declined to comment.
Also on Wednesday, Trump raised the total tariff on India to 50% as he pushes the world’s third largest importer of energy to stop buying oil from Russia.
New Delhi has called the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” and vowed to protect its national interests.
The move marks a “sharp change” in Trump’s approach to Moscow that could spark concerns among other countries in talks with the US, said market analyst Farhan Badami from financial services firm eToro.
“There is the possibility here that India is only the first target that Trump intends to punish for maintaining trade relations with Russia.”
Brazil’s exports to the US also face a 50% tariff. Trump imposed the levy after accusing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of unfairly attacking US technology firms and calling the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly attempting a coup a “witch hunt”.
The US and China have held a series of talks as they tried to agree an extension to a 90-day tariffs pause that is due to expire on 12 August.
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