US President Donald Trump’s revised “America First” trade tariffs took effect on 7 August after months of multiple reversals and global market chaos, with more than 90 countries now facing higher levies ranging from 10% to 50%.
“It’s midnight!!! Billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into the United States of America!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network in the early hours of Thursday morning.
At a White House event on 6 August with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Trump said he planned to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductor imports but would exempt chipmakers if they move production facilities to the US.
Trump’s trade war against long-term allies, which could also see pharmaceutical imports hit with a 250% tariff, began shortly after he took office in January. In April, he announced sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs against most countries as part of his “America First” policy that aims to boost manufacturing in the US.
According to World Trade Organization data compiled by Visual Capitalist, the US is the world’s biggest importer of goods, valued at US$3.17tn in 2023.
Meanwhile, US Treasury data shows that customs duties surged to a record US$113bn over the nine months to June 2025, Bloomberg reported.
However, tariffs are taxes that the government collects from US businesses that import goods. Ultimately, US companies pass down tariffs to consumers in the form of higher prices, which comes amid a surge in cost-of-living concerns and a slowdown in US jobs growth.
“There are signs that tougher times are around the corner. A lot of companies have been building up inventories before the tariffs went into place,” Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Bloomberg, adding that businesses are unlikely to sustain lower margins over the long term and price increases were inevitable.
Under the latest tariffs, imports from Brazil face one of the highest levies in the world at 50%. A 39% rate has been imposed on Switzerland and 30% on South Africa.
Countries that finalised new trade frameworks ahead of the 7 August deadline, including Japan, the European Union and South Korea, face a 15% base rate. The UK’s rate remains unchanged at 10%, while levies ranging from 19% to 20% have been imposed on goods from the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam.
India is also facing a 50% tariff after Trump issued an executive order saying he would double the levy if it did not stop purchasing Russian oil by 27 August. A 90-day trade truce between the US and China is set to expire on 12 August. The US lowered its tit-for-tat tariff on China from 145% to 30%, while China dropped its US levy from 125% to 10% as talks continue between the two nations.
Trade talks with Canada and Mexico are also continuing. This is despite Trump’s move last week to raise the tariff on Canada to 35% and pause Mexico’s levy at 25% for 90 days.