Trump tariffs live updates: Trump pushes for higher EU tariffs as Aug. 1 barrage looms
President Trump is reportedly pushing for higher blanket tariffs on imports from the European Union, throwing a wrench in negotiations ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for sweeping duties to take effect.
The Financial Times reported that Trump wants a minimum of a 15% to 20% tariff on EU goods as part of any deal. Trump has threatened the bloc with 30% duties beginning Aug. 1. That is the date he is also set to impose tariffs on an array of other trading partners, as well as potential sectoral levies on copper, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors.
The EU has left the latest discussions disappointed, according to the report, and considering options in negotiations and in potential retaliation.
"We don’t want a trade war, but we don’t know if the US will leave us a choice," the report quoted a senior EU diplomat as saying.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would soon send letters to over 150 smaller US trade partners, setting blanket tariff rates for that large group.
Trump has already sent letters to over 20 trade partners outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries. The letters set new baseline tariff levels at 20% to 40% — except for a 50% levy on goods from Brazil in a move that waded into the country's domestic politics.
Last week, Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canadian goods and followed that up with promises of 30% duties on Mexico and the EU. The letters have at times upended months of careful negotiations, with Trump saying he is both open to reaching different deals but also touting his letters as "the deals" themselves.
As markets focus on US talks, here is where things stand with other key partners:
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Vietnam: Trump said a deal with Vietnam is "pretty well set." Two weeks ago, Trump said the pact would see the country's imports face a 20% tariff — lower than the 46% Trump threatened in April. In addition, there's a higher 40% tariff "on any transshipping" — when goods shipped from Vietnam originate elsewhere, like China.
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India: Trump's tariffs on Brazil have raised the stakes for India, another member of the BRICS coalition. Bloomberg reported that the countries are working toward a framework deal that could see US tariffs on goods from India drop below 20%.
Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world.
LIVE 1456 updates
Fri, July 18, 2025 at 5:06 PM UTC Keith Reid-Cleveland Trump pushes for 15%-20% minimum tariff on all EU goods
President Trump appears to have settled on a tariff rate on all EU member countries, according to reports.
Financial Times reports:
Read more (subscription required).
- Fri, July 18, 2025 at 10:13 AM UTC Karen Friar
Battery materials stocks jump after US lays out 93.5% graphite duty
Bloomberg reports:
Stocks of battery material makers climbed after the US announced it would impose preliminary anti-dumping duties of 93.5% on graphite imports from China.
Shares of Australian graphite miner Syrah Resources Ltd. (SYAAF) surged as much as 38%, while shares of South Korea’s Posco Future M Co. (003670.KS) climbed 24%. Novonix Ltd. (NVNXF), an Australian-listed company with a graphite production plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, surged 21%. Gains in these and other Asian stocks tracked earlier jumps in Canadian peers including Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG)
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary determination Thursday, and a final plan should be announced by Dec. 5. The US determined that China, which dominates the processing capacity of graphite, had been unfairly subsidizing the industry.
Graphite is a key raw material in the anodes of electric-vehicle batteries. About two-thirds of the material imported by the US still came from China last year.
Read more here.
- Fri, July 18, 2025 at 10:11 AM UTC Karen Friar
China: Trade talks show there's no need for tariff war
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 6:14 PM UTC Grace O'Donnell
US set to impose 93.5% tariff on key battery material from China
Bloomberg reports that the Commerce Department imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of 93.5% on Chinese imports of graphite, a key battery component, after concluding the materials had been unfairly subsidized.
From Bloomberg:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM UTC Keith Reid-Cleveland
Trump Tariff added $115M in aluminum costs for largest US producer
The largest producer of aluminum in the US, Alcoa Corp., claims that tariffs cost it $115 million in Q2.
Bloomberg reports:
Alcoa Corp., the largest US aluminum producer, said tariffs on imports from Canada cost it $115 million in the second quarter, showing how US President Donald Trump’s trade agenda has affected the industry.
The company redirected Canadian produced aluminum to customers outside the US to mitigate additional tariff costs, it said Wednesday while reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates.
Alcoa shares rose as much as 6.4% Thursday in New York, the biggest intraday increase since June 26.
Metal producers are navigating the trade tumult Trump created after raising import tariffs on steel and aluminum, first to 25% in March and then to 50% in June, in an effort to revive domestic production.
Alcoa’s latest toll from tariffs is about six times more than in the first quarter when the Pittsburgh-based firm said the levies, which were then 25%, had cost it an additional $20 million. Mining giant Rio Tinto Group also revealed Wednesday that its Canada-made aluminum generated costs of more than $300 million in the first half due to the tariffs.
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM UTC Keith Reid-Cleveland
Nordic finance heads urge EU to stand firm in US trade talks
Financial leaders in European Union member countries are clearly telling their peers to hold their ground and act fast in trade talks with the US.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 3:24 PM UTC Karen Friar
EU lines up tariffs on US digital services as retaliation: Sources
The European Commission is drawing up a list of measures against US services as part of its potential response to President Trump's 30% levies due to kick in on Aug. 1, sources told the Financial Times.
The FT reports:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM UTC Karen Friar
EU stalls probe into Musk's X amid US trade talks
The EU seems to be treading carefully during negotiations to avoid a 30% tariff it sees as "prohibitive" to transatlantic trade.
The Financial Times reports:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 11:01 AM UTC Karen Friar
Volvo CEO wants EU to cut 'unnecessary' auto tariffs
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
- Thu, July 17, 2025 at 10:06 AM UTC Karen Friar
Trump eyes tariffs of 10% or 15% for the 150+ countries, muses on EU deal
President Trump said the tariff rate could be 10% or 15% for the more than 150 countries he has promised will get a notification letter soon.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
Wed, July 16, 2025 at 6:43 PM UTC Brett LoGiurato Trump says he'll soon send letters to 150 countries, will 'live by the letter' on Japan
President Trump on Wednesday said he'd soon send letters to over 150 countries that are smaller trade partners with the US, dictating tariff rates their goods will face coming into the US.
He also said he would "live by the letter" with Japan — his letter last week had outlined a 25% tariff on Japanese imports — and hinted at a possible deal with India soon.
From Bloomberg:
And Reuters:
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM UTC Grace O'Donnell
Canada announces new tariff measures on non-US imported steel to protect domestic industry
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 4:48 PM UTC Grace O'Donnell
Striking trade deal with US was an ‘extraordinary struggle,’ Indonesia says
Nearly 24 hours after President Trump announced a trade agreement with Indonesia on Tuesday, Indonesia’s government confirmed the deal, saying that the talks were an "extraordinary struggle."
A government spokesperson said Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto negotiated the deal directly with Trump over the phone.
“This is an extraordinary struggle by our negotiating team led by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs,” Hasan Nasbi, the Indonesian president’s spokesperson, told Reuters.
Trump stated that the agreement calls for the US to impose a 19% tariff on Indonesia’s exports, whereas Indonesia would not charge any tariffs on American exports. Trump also said Indonesia committed to buying “$15 Billion Dollars in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777’s.”
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 1:52 PM UTC Keith Reid-Cleveland
France adds support for using most-potent trade tool on US
France has reportedly joined fellow European Union members in deciding to respond more directly to looming tariff threats. If activated, the EU would take retaliatory action against the US in trade activity.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 10:15 AM UTC Karen Friar
Rio Tinto: Tariffs added $300 million in aluminum costs
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 9:45 AM UTC Karen Friar
Vietnam trade deal is 'pretty well set', Trump says
President Trump said a trade agreement with Vietnam is almost completed, after the US struck a preliminary deal with the Communist country earlier in July.
That deal laid out a cut to planned US tariffs on imports from Vietnam, lowering the rate to 20% from the 46% level laid out in April's "Liberation Day" announcement. But Trump said at the time that goods illegally transshipped via Vietnam to other countries would face a 40% levy.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington that he could release details of the Vietnam trade agreement, but did not think it was necessary.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 9:26 AM UTC Karen Friar
Chip linchpin ASML warns on growth amid tariff headwinds
ASML's (ASML) US-listed stock slumped in premarket trading after the chip industry linchpin said it may not achieve growth in 2026, citing tariff uncertainty as a factor.
The warning came even as the world's biggest supplier of chipmaking gear's second quarter bookings topped Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.
Reuters reported:
Read more here.
- Wed, July 16, 2025 at 9:25 AM UTC Karen Friar
Trump says drug tariffs are probable by Aug. 1
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
- Tue, July 15, 2025 at 5:29 PM UTC Brett LoGiurato
Trump: Indonesia goods will see 19% tariff under new deal
President Trump on Tuesday unveiled more details of an emerging trade agreement with Indonesia, saying the country's goods would face a 19% tariff when imported into the US.
US goods will see no tariff when exported to Indonesia, Trump said.
More from Bloomberg:
Read more here.
- Tue, July 15, 2025 at 5:15 PM UTC Grace O'Donnell
Trump tariff inflation is arriving
Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman reports:
Read more here.
