A look at Trump’s trade deals so far as tariff deadline days away – National

The clock is ticking closer to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff deadline of Aug 1. And while several more deals — or at least frameworks for deals — have been reached since his last tariff deadline of July 9 came and went, trade talks with many countries are still in flux.

Trump unveiled sweeping import taxes on goods coming into the U.S. from nearly every country back in April. That included heightened so-called reciprocal rates for certain countries, the bulk of which have since been postponed twice.

The first 90-day pause arrived in an apparent effort to quell global market panic and facilitate country-by-country negotiations, with the Trump administration at one point setting a lofty goal of reaching 90 trade deals in 90 days.

But three months later, only two deals emerged: with the U.K. and Vietnam. A separate “framework” for a deal was hashed out with China. And by early July, Trump began sending warning letters that higher tariffs would be imposed against dozens of countries on Aug. 1.

Since then, the U.S. has announced trade frameworks with the European Union, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. But, key details remain sparse — or not immediately captured in writing.

Here’s what we know about the agreements so far, in the order of those most recently announced.

The U.S. and the EU announced a trade framework that imposes 15 per cent tariffs on most European goods — warding off Trump’s most recent threat of 30 per cent if no deal had been reached by Aug. 1.

But some key details require more work. The headline of the agreement, unveiled July 27, is that the 15 per cent tariff rate will apply to 70 per cent of European goods brought into the U.S. — with the EU later confirming that that rate applies to pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and car and car parts. But the remaining 30 per cent of those imports is still open for negotiations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that both sides had agreed to zero tariffs for a range of “strategic” goods. Meanwhile, Trump pointed to heightened investments from European companies in the U.S. — including what Trump said was US$750 billion (638 billion euros) worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel over three years, as well as an additional US$600 billion (511 billion euros) under a political commitment that isn’t legally binding, officials said.

On July 22, Trump announced a trade framework to impose 15 per cent tariffs on Japan — down from his previously-threatened rate of 25 per cent. The U.S. president also said Japan would invest US$550 billion into the U.S. and would “open” its economy to American autos and rice.

The newly-agreed on 15 per cent tariff rate also applies to Japanese cars — marking a welcome relief for automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda — which, like other automakers, have faced a 25 per cent levy on key parts and finished vehicles going into the U.S. since earlier this year. But car companies in other countries, including U.S. competitors, worry that this could put them at a disadvantage.

Shortly after a July 22 meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Trump announced that he would lower his upcoming tariffs on imports from the country to 19 per cent — down just one per cent from his previous threat of 20 per cent.

In return, Trump said on Truth Social, the U.S. would not pay tariffs on American goods it shipped to the Philippines. But additional details remained unclear. Marcos said his country was considering options such as having an open market without tariffs for U.S. automobiles, but emphasized details were still left to be worked out.

On July 15, Trump again took to social media to announce that he’s agreed to lower his planned tariffs on Indonesian goods to 19 per cent — down from a previously-threatened levy of 32 per cent — while American goods sent to the southeast Asian country will face no tariffs. A fact sheet from the White House later confirmed that “over 99 per cent of U.S. products” exported to Indonesia would be sent duty-free.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he will continue to negotiate with Trump, in hopes of further lowering the coming U.S. tariffs.

On July 2, Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam that he said would allow U.S. goods to enter the country duty-free. Vietnamese exports to the U.S., by contrast, would face a 20 per cent levy.

That’s less than half the 46 per cent “reciprocal” rate Trump proposed for Vietnamese goods back in April. But in addition to the new 20 per cent tariff rate, Trump said the U.S. would impose a 40 per cent tax on “transshipping’’ — targeting goods from another country that stop in Vietnam on their way to the United States. Washington complains that Chinese goods have been dodging higher U.S. tariffs by transiting through Vietnam.

On May 8, Trump agreed to cut tariffs on British autos, steel and aluminum, among other trade pledges — while the U.K. promised to reduce levies on U.S. products like olive oil, wine and sports equipment. The deal was announced in grandiose terms by both countries, but some key details remained unknown for weeks.

When the deal was announced, for example, the British government notably said that the U.S. agreed to exempt the U.K. from its then-universal 25 per cent duties on foreign steel and aluminum — which would have effectively allowed both metals from the country to come into the U.S. duty-free.

But the timing for when those cuts would actually take effect stayed up in the air for almost a month. It wasn’t until early June, when Trump hiked his steel and aluminum tariffs to a punishing 50 per cent worldwide, that the U.S. acknowledged it was time to implement the agreement. And even then, U.S. tariffs on British steel and aluminum did not go to zero. The U.K. was the only country spared from Trump’s new 50 per cent levies, but still faces 25 per cent import taxes on the metals.

At its peak, Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese goods totaled 145 per cent — and China’s countertariffs on American products reached 125 per cent. But on May 12, the countries agreed to their own 90-day truce to roll back those levies to 30 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. And in June, details began trickling in about a tentative trade agreement.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that China had agreed to make it easier for American firms to acquire Chinese magnets and rare earth minerals critical for manufacturing and microchip production. Meanwhile, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said that the U.S. would “lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China.”

Other key details of the deal remain murky — including the timing of implementation for these terms. On July 29, China’s top trade official said the two sides had agreed to work on extending an Aug. 12 deadline for new tariffs on each other, following a two-day trade meeting in Stockholm. The U.S. side said extension plans were discussed, but not decided.

—Associated Press reporters from all over the world contributed to this report.