SINGAPORE (Reuters) -President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday imposing reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on U.S. imports from dozens of countries and foreign locations.
Rates were set at 25% for India’s U.S.-bound exports, 20% for Taiwan’s and 30% for South Africa’s. Trump also signed an executive order on Thursday increasing tariffs on Canadian goods to 35% from 25%, the White House said.
Asian stock markets and U.S. stock futures fell slightly on the news.
QUOTES:
TONY SYCAMORE, MARKET ANALYST, IG, SYDNEY:
“At this point, the reaction in markets has been modest, and I think part of the reason for that is the recent trade deals with the EU, Japan, and South Korea have certainly helped to cushion the impact, as has Mexico being granted a 90-day reprieve. And Trump said that trade talks with China are doing reasonably well there.
“So on top of all of that, you have the TACO trade type situation whereby, after being obviously caught on the wrong foot in April, the market now, I think, has probably taken the view that these trade tariff levels can be renegotiated, can be walked lower over the course of time.”
BRIAN JACOBSEN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ANNEX WEALTH MANAGEMENT, MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN (emailed comment):
“Just because we now have clarity on the tariffs, that doesn’t mean we have certainty about their effects.
“There are those who think that tariff-induced consumer price inflation will slowly build as businesses work down inventories and test how strong their pricing power is. Others think the tariff-induced inflation will peak earlier, showing up mostly in crimped profit margins and resulting in slower growth.
“However, what tariffs take with one hand, maybe tax incentives to invest and more open foreign markets can give with the other hand.”
ILLIANA JAIN, ECONOMIST, WESTPAC, SYDNEY:
“The first thing to note is that we’re not completely sure if these are the final rates for those countries, or if they’re still subject to negotiations… when you’re talking about that muted reaction from markets, it’s probably kind of that wait-and-see, is this actually real? Are there going to be more negotiations?
“For the time being, it looks like they will be in place, he did say a deadline of 1st of August. Though I would be really surprised if these countries didn’t work hard to kind of fight the rates.”
CHARU CHANANA, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, SAXO, SINGAPORE;
“The tariff announcement brings clarity in form but not in function. We now have a list of countries and their respective rates, but the logic behind these numbers is far from transparent. The sweeping nature of the measures suggests that this isn’t a one-time fix but the beginning of a new global trade regime that favors unpredictability over structure.
“There are no real winners here. The US administration can claim a political win, having followed through on its threats, but economically the impact will be felt in higher prices, disrupted supply chains, and slower growth. Even countries that got away with 10% duties aren’t celebrating, they’re still dealing with a fractured trade landscape and the volatility in frameworks.
“Defensive stocks or domestic-facing sectors might see some interest as capital rotates away from globally exposed companies, but this isn’t a thematic opportunity, it’s damage control.”
JEFF NG, HEAD OF ASIA MACRO STRATEGY, SMBC, SINGAPORE:
“I would say that the tariffs have come in relatively within expectations. For myself, I was expecting 20-30% tariff rates on average, so it looks like it’s close to the lower end of the range.
“The dollar did strengthen over the past week or so… so it looks like part of what has been priced into the trend already.
“I expect that the rates will continue to be changed between now and maybe even up until next year. Trump will continue to make some changes to the tariffs.”
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee, Rae Wee)
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