The U.S. will increase blanket reciprocal tariff rates for countries that haven’t received a tariff letter to 15% or 20%, President Donald Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News July 10, the broadcast news outlet reported.
President Donald Trump on July 11 appeared to leave open the possibility that USMCA goods will remain exempt from a higher 35% tariff on Canada that he announced the previous day.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit fielded a total of 20 amicus briefs regarding the lawsuit against the tariffs President Donald Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 18 of which supported the importers and U.S. states challenging the tariffs. The amicus briefs came from 191 current members of Congress, various business interests, former government officials, advocacy groups and economists (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Georgetown Law professor Jennifer Hillman, a former International Trade Commissioner and a former general counsel in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, predicted that the Supreme Court may make a decision on the legality of reciprocal tariffs and other tariffs imposed via the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Hillman, who was speaking on a July 8 webinar about tariffs hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, has been helping challengers to those tariffs, and she said there's "a very good chance that the legal challenges will at least temporarily derail the tariffs imposed under the [law]."
As promised, President Donald Trump posted screenshots of more form letters on reciprocal tariff rates for countries' products that will begin Aug. 1. The letters were aimed at small trading partners; the largest, the Philippines, was notified it would see a 20% rate, up from 17% in April.
President Donald Trump posted a letter to Brazil's president, telling him: "Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans," Brazilian exports will face a 50% reciprocal tariff on Aug. 1.
Five importers challenging the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the government's defense of the tariffs' legality falls short. The importers, represented by the conservative advocacy group Liberty Justice Center, argued that IEEPA categorically doesn't provide for tariffs, IEEPA is precluded from being used to address trade deficits due to the existence of Section 122, and the Court of International Trade was right to issue an injunction against the tariffs (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
A spokesman for the European Commission said the EU is not viewing the new Aug. 1 effective date of higher country-specific reciprocal tariffs as a sign they have more weeks to reach an agreement with the U.S. on tariffs. "Our aim remains to find an agreement before the ninth of July," Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels on July 7.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late July 7 that said he is postponing the effective date of higher country-specific reciprocal tariff rates from July 9 to Aug. 1 "based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners."