New US tariffs cloud outlook for exporters in Asia and beyond
[August 07, 2025] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new tariff rates on U.S. imports
from dozens of countries took effect Thursday, the latest chapter in the
saga of Trump’s reshaping of global trade. But many questions remain.
Trump has threatened tariffs of up to 200% on imports of pharmaceuticals
and has ordered a 100% import tax on computer chips. Most U.S. imports
of copper, steel and aluminum are subject to a 50% tariff.
There’s still no agreement on what tariffs might apply to products
shipped from China. India has no deal yet and faces a potential 50%
tariff as Trump pressures it to stop buying oil from Russia.
Recent data shows uncertainty is clouding the outlook for exporters
around the world as a rush to beat the tariffs during a pause for
negotiation tapers off. Companies are reporting billions of dollars in
higher costs or losses due to the higher import duties.
Global financial markets took Thursday's tariff adjustments in stride,
with Asian shares and U.S. futures mostly higher.
Here's where things stand in what has proven to be a fast-changing
policy landscape.
The tariffs taking effect this week
The tariffs announced on Aug. 1 apply to 66 countries, Taiwan and the
Falkland Islands. They are a revised version of what Trump called "
reciprocal tariffs," announced on April 2: import taxes of up to 50% on
goods from countries that have a trade surplus with the United States,
along with 10% “baseline’’ taxes on almost everyone else. That move
triggered sell-offs in financial markets and Trump backtracked to allow
time for trade talks.
The president has bypassed Congress, which has authority over taxes, by
invoking a 1977 law to declare the trade deficit a national emergency.
That's being challenged in court, but the revised tariffs still took
effect.
To keep their access to the huge American market, major trading partners
have struck deals with Trump. The United Kingdom agreed to 10% tariffs
and the European Union, South Korea and Japan accepted U.S. tariffs of
15%. Those are much higher than the low single-digit rates they paid
last year, but down from the 30% Trump had ordered for the EU and the
25% he ordered for Japan.
Countries in Africa and Asia are mostly facing lower rates than the ones
Trump decreed in April. Thailand, Pakistan, South Korea, Vietnam,
Indonesia and the Philippines cut deals with Trump, settling for rates
of around 20%.
Indonesia views its 19% tariff deal as a leg up against exporters in
other countries that will have to pay slightly more, said Fithra Faisal
Hastiadi, a spokesperson in the Indonesian president's office.
“We were competing against Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and
China ... and they are all subject to higher reciprocal tariffs,”
Hastiadi said. “We believe we will stay competitive.”
The latest situation for China and India
Trump has yet to announce whether he will extend an Aug. 12 deadline for
reaching a trade agreement with China that would forestall earlier
threats of tariffs of up to 245%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president is deciding about
another 90-day delay to allow time to work out details of an agreement
setting tariffs on most products at 50%, including extra import duties
related to illicit trade in fentanyl.
Higher import taxes on small parcels from China have hurt smaller
factories and layoffs have accelerated, leaving some 200 million workers
reliant on “flexible work” — the gig economy — for their livelihoods,
the government estimates.
India also has no broad trade agreement with Trump. On Wednesday, Trump
he signed an executive order placing an extra 25% tariff for its
purchases of Russian oil, bringing combined U.S. tariffs to 50%. India
has stood firm, saying it began importing oil from Russia because
traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the
Ukraine conflict.
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A truck navigates along stacks of containers at the Manila North
Harbour Port in Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP
Photo/Aaron Favila)
 A top body of Indian exporters said
Thursday the tariffs will impact nearly 55% of the country’s
outbound shipments to America and force exporters to lose their
long-standing clients.
“Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins
are already thin,” S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of
Indian Export Organisations, said in a statement.
Others among the hardest-hit countries
Struggling, impoverished Laos and war-torn Myanmar and Syria face
40-41% rates.
Trump whacked Brazil with a 50% import tax largely because he’s
unhappy with its treatment of former Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro.
South Africa said the steep 30% rate Trump has ordered on the
exporter of precious gems and metals has put 30,000 jobs at risk and
left the country scrambling to find new markets outside the United
States.
Even wealthy Switzerland is under the gun. Swiss officials were
visiting Washington this week to try to stave off a whopping 39%
tariff on U.S. imports of its chocolate, watches and other products.
Canada and Mexico have their own arrangements
Goods that comply with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term are excluded
from the tariffs.
So, even though U.S. neighbor and ally Canada was hit by a 35%
tariff after it defied Trump, a staunch supporter of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by saying it would recognize a
Palestinian state, nearly all of its exports to the U.S. remain duty
free.
Canada’s central bank says 100% of energy exports and 95% of other
exports are compliant with the agreement since regional rules mean
Canadian and Mexico companies can claim preferential treatment.
The slice of Mexican exports not covered by the USMCA is subject to
a 25% tariff, down from an earlier rate of 30%, during a 90-day
negotiating period that began last week.
The outlook for businesses
Surveys of factory managers offer monthly insights into export
orders, hiring and other indicators of how businesses are faring.
The latest figures in the United States and globally mostly showed
conditions deteriorating.
In Japan, factory output contracted in July, purchasing activity
fell and hiring slowed, according to the S&P Global Manufacturing
PMI. But the data were collected before Trump announced a trade deal
that cut tariffs on Japanese exports to 15% from 25%.
Similar surveys show a deterioration in manufacturing conditions
worldwide, as a boost from “front loading” export orders to beat
higher tariffs faded, S&P Global said. Similar measures for service
industries have remained stronger, reflecting more domestic business
activity. In Asia, that includes a rebound in tourism across the
region.
Corporate bottom lines are also taking a hit. Honda Motor said
Wednesday that it estimates the cost from higher tariffs at about $3
billion. Toyota said its quarterly profit plunged 37% and the hit
from tariffs was $3 billion.
On top that, the U.S. economy — Trump's trump card as the world's
biggest market — is starting to show pain from months of tariff
threats.
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Aniruddha
Ghosal in Hanoi contributed.
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