By Reuters and published by Yahoo!News
Washington – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (July 30) issued a blitz of tariff announcements ranging from changes to previously threatened levies on imports of copper, goods from Brazil and South Korea, to ending an exemption from tariffs for small-value shipments from overseas.
The wave of announcements came as the clock ticked down toward an August 1 deadline for higher US tariff rates, as Trump pressed on with his bid to reshape global trade.
Capping a day that began with Trump announcing a 25% tariff rate on goods from India, after months of negotiations between Washington and New Delhi failed to produce a trade deal, Trump said a 50% tariff on copper pipes and wiring would kick in on Friday.
Trump plans to sign new executive orders on Thursday imposing higher tariff rates on several countries that have been unable to reach negotiated trade deals with the United States, Politico reported, citing a White House official.
Details of the copper levy fell short of the sweeping restrictions expected and left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes.
The surprise move dragged down US copper prices more than 17% on the Comex exchange and unwound a premium over the London global benchmark that had grown in recent weeks, with shipments diverted there in anticipation of higher domestic prices.
“Markets are now busily repricing refined copper much lower after Trump’s epic backflip on his own import tariff policy,” said Tom Price, an analyst at the London brokerage Panmure Liberum. “Someone must have finally got through to (Trump) that the US economy simply can’t afford this new trade-hit.
Trump first teased the copper tariff in early July, implying that it would apply to all types of the red metal, ranging from cathodes produced by mines and smelters to wiring and other finished products.
Yet the proclamation released by the White House said the tariff will apply only to pipes, tubes and other semi-finished copper products, as well as products that copper is heavily used to manufacture, including cable and electrical components.
The move aids manufacturers, but does little to boost the constrained US copper mining industry, which for years has asked Washington for permitting reform or other steps that could fuel growth. The move is essentially a boost for Chile and Peru, two of the world’s largest copper miners and major suppliers to the United States.
Brazil ‘not worst-case scenario’
Trump on Wednesday slapped a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from the heavier levies.
That came as a relief for many in Brasilia, who since Trump announced the tariffs had been urging protections for major exporters caught in the crossfire. Shares of planemaker Embraer and pulpmaker Suzano rose.
“We’re not facing the worst-case scenario,” Brazilian Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told reporters. “It’s a more benign outcome than it could have been.”
The new tariffs will go into effect on August 6, not August 1 as Trump announced originally.
South Korea ‘shipbuilding deal’
Trump also announced the US will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.
Imports from South Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel, had faced a 25% rate.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic of Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after he met with South Korean officials at the White House.
Trump said Seoul had agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States in projects selected by him and to purchase $100 billion of liquefied natural gas and other energy products.
South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol said on Thursday that a shipbuilding partnership package dubbed “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” was key to the tariffs agreement.
The shipbuilding partnership worth about $150 billion will be led by South Korean shipbuilders to rebuild the US shipbuilding industry, Koo said.
The other $200 billion would include funds for chips, nuclear power, batteries, and biologics, Kim Yong-beom, policy chief from the South Korean presidential office, told a briefing.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on X that the South Korean energy purchases would take place “over the next 3.5 years.”
‘De minimis’
The White House also said the United States is suspending a “de minimis” exemption that allowed low-value commercial shipments to be shipped to the United States without tariffs.
Under Trump’s order, packages valued at or under $800 sent to the US outside of the international postal network will now face “all applicable duties” starting on August 29, the White House said.
Trump earlier targeted packages from China and Hong Kong. The tax-and-spending bill recently signed by Trump repealed the legal basis for the de minimis exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027.
Goods shipped through the postal system will face one of two tariffs: either an “ad valorem duty” equal to the effective tariff rate of the package’s country of origin or, for six months, a specific tariff of $80 to $200 depending on the country of origin’s tariff rate.
Trump says US, India still negotiating after 25% US tariff threat
Trump also said the United States is still negotiating with India on trade after announcing earlier in the day the US would impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from the country starting on Friday.
The 25% tariff, as well as an unspecified penalty announced by Trump in a morning social media post, would strain relations with the world’s most populous democracy.
Later at the White House, the Republican president indicated there was wiggle room.
“They have one of the highest tariffs in the world now, they’re willing to cut it very substantially,” Trump told reporters. “We’re talking to India now – we’ll see what happens … You’ll know by the end of this week.”
The 25% figure would single out India more severely than other major trading partners, and threaten to unravel months of talks between the two countries, undermining a strategic partner of Washington’s and a counterbalance to China.
What the penalty would be was not clear. Trump indicated initially, in a post on the Truth Social website, that the penalty was a response to India buying Russian arms and oil and its “obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers.”
When asked about the penalty later at the White House, he said it was partly due to trade issues and partly because of India’s involvement in the BRICS group of developing nations, which he described as hostile to the US.
CAPTIONS:
Top: US President Donald Trump speaks at an event in the East Room of the White House on July 30, 2025, in Washington. Photo: AP/John McDonnell and published by CNA
First insert: A person holds a South Korean flag and a US flag in Uiwang, South Korea on Mar. 8, 2025. File photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-ji and published by CNA
Second insert: Parcels waiting to be processed are seen through a glass as a delivery worker’s reflection appears on it in a post office, as Hong Kong Post stops certain US-bound shipments since April 27 due to new US tariff rules, in Hong Kong, China, May. 2, 2025. File photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu and published by CNA
Third insert: US President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Feb. 13, 2025. File photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque and published by CNA
Front Page: US President Donald Trump waves as he walks, on the day of the grand opening of Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen in Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, on July 29, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein and published by CNA
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Santiago, Ernest Scheyder in Houston, Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, Pratima Desai and Polina Devitt in London, Gabriel Araujo and Ana Mano in Sao Paulo, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Jasper Ward, Bhargav Acharya, Kanishka Singh, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Shepardson in Washington, Ju-min Park and Jihoon Lee in Seoul; Writing by Dan Burns and Michael Perry; Editing by Jamie Freed and Saad Sayeed)
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