Lesotho, Madagascar and Falkland Islands see major tariff cuts
Lesotho, Madagascar and the Falkland Islands were among the biggest winners from last night’s tariff announcement, seeing some of the steepest reductions from the rates announced on Liberation Day.
On April 2, Trump imposed a 50% tariff rate on Lesotho. Last night, he announced a new rate of 15%.
Madagascar initially faced a 47% tariff rate, which was also reduced to 15%.
Finally, the Falkland Islands, a remote South Atlantic archipelago, had their rate drop from 41% to 10%.
— Erin Doherty
Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Stephen Miran said he expects even more government revenue from tariffs than previously projected, predicted more major U.S. trading partners will cut deals with the Trump administration, and waved off inflation concerns over tariffs.
“You mentioned revenues. That’s also, I think, going to be absolutely fabulous,” Miran said in an interview on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”
“A month ago, we expected $3 trillion in revenues [from tariff collections] over a decade,” he said. “My team is still crunching the numbers as we have more tariff rates … I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being much closer to $4 trillion than $3 trillion.”
Miran said recent trade deals signed by the Trump administration, with the European Union, Japan and other trading partners, has “laid out a road map for how other countries can get trade deals if they want,” including Canada, China and Mexico.
Those three countries are among the biggest trading partners with the U.S., and Miran suggested “it’s only a matter of time until Canada and some others” reach similar deals.
“It’s in their best interest to come to deal that makkes America still remain open for business,” Miran said. “Because outcomes with the deal will be much better than outcomes without a deal.”
Asked if there is evidence that imposing tariffs on imports from other countries had lead to an increase in U.S. companies moving foreign manufacturing operations back home, Miran said, “I think it’s going to take soem time for that evidence to accumulate.”
He noted that “hyperglobalization” took years to occur, and likewise, “starting to rebuild the American domestic manufacturing base is also not going to happen overnight.”
“I think we’ll start to see signs of that coming in the near future,” Miran said.
He said he did not think the new tariffs imposed by Trump will be “inflationary.”
When “Money Movers” host Sara Eisen pointed to evidence of inflation in some goods sectors, Miran said he disagreed that it was due to tariffs, calling it “an international phenomenon” that is also seen in other countries.
– Dan Mangan
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gestures as he holds a press conference following the weekly caucus lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warns that the disappointing jobs numbers today are a product of the uncertainty and potential economic slowdown created by Trump’s tariffs.
“It is disturbing to say, but the chickens are coming home to roost on Donald Trump’s destructive trade war, and the American people are paying the price,” the New York Democrat just said on the Senate Floor.
“If this is what Liberation Day was supposed to look like, then God help us.”
— Christina Wilkie
Swiss businesses broadly believed they were close to a framework trade deal with the U.S. — instead they have been rocked by news of a 39% tariff, one of the highest in the world, to apply from Aug. 7.
“This unpredictability imposes a rising risk premium on financial assets,” Beat Wittmann, chairman and partner at Porta Advisors, said in emailed comments. “This will lead to a weakening of the Swiss economy, the Swiss Franc and the Swiss equity market, particularly the all-important export sector.”
Consultancy Capital Economics estimates that a 39% tariff could knock 0.6% off Swiss GDP, or more if it extends to pharmaceuticals.
However, analysts also noted Friday that there was still time for Switzerland to negotiate new rates before the end of next week. Read more here.
— Jenni Reid
The White House is facing fresh pressure to blunt the potential negative impacts of tariffs on the U.S. economy, after the latest job report showed weak numbers in July and dramatic downward revisions earlier in the year.
Job growth totaled 73,000 last month, above the June total of 14,000, but below what economists were expecting.
In an equally worrying sign, job growth from June and May was slashed by a combined 258,000 jobs, from previously announced levels.
The weak jobs reports suggest that companies may have already been preemptively slowing their hiring amid the uncertainty created by months of tariff threats and pauses from the White House.
— Erin Doherty
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer holds a copy of “Foreign Trade Barriers” as he testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 8, 2025.
Kevin Mohatt | Reuters
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the bilateral trade deals Trump has made — most of which are predicated on pledges to purchase U.S. goods — will stick even if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the president does not have the legal authority to impose his country-specific tariffs.
“The reality is, the countries understand the type of leverage that President Trump has created,” Greer just said on Bloomberg TV. “That’s why they’re doing these deals, and they’re going to stick regardless of what happens in litigation.”
Whether Greer is correct about that remains to be seen. It’s not difficult to imagine that a country which had agreed to buy goods in order to avoid higher U.S. tariff rates might go back on that pledge if the high court ruled those tariffs were unconstitutional.
Greer’s statement comes a day after the government argued before an 11 judge panel at the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals that Trump’s authority to make wholesale changes to tariff rates stems from an obscure trade law known as IEEPA.
Whichever way that court rules, the case is widely expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
“We feel confident,” about winning in court, says Greer. “You know, if it goes the other way, then we’ll manage that.”
— Christina Wilkie
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the trade deals are all “premised” on other countries “actually opening their market, [and] making the investment and purchase commitments they’ve agreed to.”
If they don’t honor their agreements with the U.S., then “the president has his tariff authority,” Greer said.
He said that his office monitors compliance with trade deals, and if countries don’t comply they “can have the tariffs go back into place.”
“This is basic trade enforcement,” Greer said on CNBC.
— Erin Doherty
August trading is starting “with a bit of panic,” Macquarie strategists Thierry Wizman and Gareth Berry said in a note on Friday.
“It is, after all, August 1, which was always linked to a fearful apprehension over the prospect that some (on many) countries would not have reached a “deal” with the US to settle on low, but permanent, tariff situations,” they said.
“Negotiations were reported to be still in progress with the hold-outs, and thus traders haven’t lost all hope, however. But the effect of seeing Trump not ‘chicken out’ has hurt stock markets overnight and this morning,” Wizman and Berry noted.
Global markets have broadly been lower, with Asia-Pacific markets recording a negative day, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 1.4% and U.S. stock futures were under pressure.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad addresses the audience during a sustainable mobility event, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imports from Brazil, in Brasilia, Brazil July 10, 2025.
Mateus Bonomi | Reuters
Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the country’s government was in the final stages of creating a plan to help companies impacted by tariffs.
He said that while specific figures were still being fine-tuned, he expected spending to be in line with local fiscal rules, Reuters reported.
Brazil is facing 50% tariffs on its goods. Trump has positioned the tariffs politically, linking them to the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
— Sophie Kiderlin
The currencies of some countries affected by higher tariffs pulled back Friday. The Swiss franc was last down by around 0.5% against the U.S. dollar. Switzerland is facing 39% tariffs from later this month — however the country’s government has said it is still seeking a “negotiated solution.”
Elsewhere, the South African rand was last down around 0.6% against the U.S. dollar as the country is set to see 30% tariffs on its goods.
The Canadian dollar was last down around 0.1% against the U.S. dollar. Canada has been hit with 35% tariffs, a development which Prime Minister Mark Carney described as “disappointing.”
— Sophie Kiderlin
The news of Switzerland facing 39% tariffs is “disappointing,” Rahul Sahgal, CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.
Switzerland has invested a lot of time and gone through many rounds of negotiations with various U.S. bodies and officials, he said, suggesting that an agreement had not been far off.
“That we then get slapped with 39% is at this point very disappointing,” he said, noting that he however does not think the end point has been reached.
The CEO also said that it was hard to tell what the reason behind the higher tariff rate was, but noted that the Swiss-U.S. goods trade balance had apparently been flagged by Trump.
The U.S. goods trade deficit with Switzerland amounted $38.5 billion last year, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
But, Switzerland is a much smaller country than the U.S., Sahgal pointed out, saying that therefore even “if every Swiss was to drink a bottle of bourbon and eat a steak every single day and buy a Harley Davidson, we will not be able to balance the trade in goods.”
— Sophie Kiderlin
A trader works in front of a board displaying the chart of Germany’s share index DAX at the stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on August 1, 2025.
Daniel Roland | Afp | Getty Images
European stocks pulled back Friday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 last trading around 1.3% lower at levels last seen in early July.
The German DAX index tumbled 1.7%, while France’s CAC 40 fell by 2.1%. The British FTSE 100 also pulled back and was last 0.6% lower.
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European pharmaceutical stocks broadly pulled back on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump sent letters to various companies, including U.S. firms, demanding cheaper drug prices.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Yeo Han-koo, South Korea’s trade minister, speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Jean Chung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
South Korean official Yeo Han-Koo on Friday said there was no written agreement on the trade deal between the country and and the U.S., Reuters reported.
Because of time constraints, the negotiations had been oral, he told reporters.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday had announced a trade deal between the two countries. It includes 15% tariffs on South Korean goods, lower than the 25% Trump had threatened the country with in a letter last month.
— Sophie Kiderlin
The latest U.S. tariff policy is “still not the end of the story,” Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said Friday.
“President Trump’s latest flurry of tariffs implies that the US effective tariff rate will rise to about 18%, from 2.3% last year,” he noted. That’s higher than expected and carries downside risks for global economic growth projections, as well as some upside risk for U.S. inflation forecasts, Brown said.
“That said, this is unlikely to be the final word, as it still seems likely that some other countries will reach their own deals with the US, while there is a chance that the US courts will eventually strike down these tariffs,” he said.
— Sophie Kiderlin
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Switzerland’s biggest business lobby hit out at the U.S. tariffs, saying it is “neither justified nor understandable why Switzerland should be subject to one of the world’s highest tariff rates.”
Economiesuisse said the tariffs represent a very serious burden for Swiss export companies warning that the new duties would make make Swiss exports “more expensive, weaken companies’ competitiveness, and strain the investment climate.”
The group said Switzerland doesn’t impose any levies on U.S. imports and the country is the sixth-largest foreign investor in the U.S., with Swiss companies responsible for approximately 400,000 jobs.
A “rapid and advantageous” solution to the crisis is necessary, the lobby group said.
— Michael Considine
The latest changes to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are, in some ways, “not the worst-case scenario, as Trump had previously indicated that the universal 10% baseline rate could double,” Berenberg U.S. economist, Atakan Bakiskan, said in a Friday note.
Bakiskan nevertheless added that the new levies mark a “huge blow to global commerce” and forecast that the U.S. will suffer the hit of the new levies by way of higher domestic inflation and slower growth.
“The tariffs distort competition between companies that produce in the US to serve the US market relative to those that produce abroad. But many European Japanese and South Korean-based producers compete more against each other than against US-based producers in the US market,” the economist said.
“As they all face a 15% levy, the competition between them is distorted by less than would have been the case if Trump had imposed widely different country-specific US tariffs against these key advanced economies,” Bakiskan added.
— Ruxandra Iordache
The Micron Technology Inc. factory in Muar, Malacca, Malaysia, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021.
Ian Teh | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Malaysia’s semiconductor exports — which are a major pillar of its economy — will be exempt from U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said Friday.
According to the country’s trade ministry, Malaysia is the sixth largest semiconductor exporter globally.
A number of semiconductor companies are operating in Malaysia, including Intel, Micron, AMD and Broadcom.
Besides semiconductors, the country’s pharmaceutical products will also be exempted from the duties, Zafrul added. Malaysia saw its tariff rate lowered to 19% from the 24% rate set earlier.
— Victor Loh
Asia-Pacific markets ended the day lower on Friday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.07% to close at 24,507.81, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index decreased by 0.51% to 4,045.93.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark ended the day 0.66% lower at 40,799.60, while the broader Topix index ticked up 0.19% to 2,948.65.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 3.88% to close at 3,119.41, while the small-cap Kosdaq plunged 4.03% to 772.79.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark fell 0.92% to end the day at 8,662.
Over in India, the 50-stock benchmark Nifty 50 was down 0.48%, while the BSE Sensex index lost 0.34% as of 2:02 p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:32 a.m. ET).
— Amala Balakrishner
This photograph shows blister packs of Swiss medications by Sandoz, shaping a Swiss cross, in Lausanne on August 1, 2025 as Washington said it planned to charge a 39 percent tariff rate on Swiss goods.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images
Much uncertainty remains over the extent to which the pharmaceutical sector will be affected by tariffs.
A spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs told Reuters on Friday that the government understands that the 39% tariffs the country is facing are not set to include the pharmaceutical sector.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Other countries, including South Africa, on Friday also flagged expected exceptions for the pharmaceutical sector.
— Sophie Kiderlin
The injection of wide-spanning tariffs is expected to impact global trade, with market uncertainty triggering a “large impact on business and household sentiment around the world and on global financial and capital markets,” the Bank of Japan said in its quarterly report out Aug. 1.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
Getty Images
The institution noted that Japan’s automakers have likely absorbed the cost hit from the U.S. levies, as reflected in a 20% drop in export prices for their vehicles since April.
“These developments suggest that while Japanese automakers have avoided a decrease in sales volume due to an increase in local prices, their profits are declining, taking the form of a deterioration in export profitability,” the bank said.
Japan secured a lower preferential tariff rate for its automobile sector as part of its trade agreement struck with the U.S. for a 15% levy.
— Ruxandra Iordache
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Brics Summit 2025 at Museu de Arte Moderna on July 6, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Wagner Meier | Getty Images News | Getty Images
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed “concern” over the White House’s updated tariffs that will impose a 30% duty on South African goods bound for the U.S.
Ramaphosa said his country will continue negotiations with Washington toward a trade deal, noting the government is finalizing a package to support companies, producers and workers affected by the levies.
“All applicable exceptions published in the previous US Executive Order are set to remain in force and these exceptions covered products such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, stainless steel scrap and energy and energy products,” he said.
— Ruxandra Iordache
European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic attends a press conference on EU-US trade deal, in Brussels, Belgium, July 28, 2025.
Yves Herman | Reuters
Washington’s new tariffs regime — which also confirmed rates agreed in recent days with trading partners such as Japan and the EU — “reflect the first results of the EU-US deal, esp. the 15% all-inclusive tariff cap,” according to the 27-nation bloc’s trade chief.
“This reinforces stability for businesses as well as trust in the transatlantic economy. EU exporters now benefit from a more competitive position. The work continues,” Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic said in a social media update.
The EU and White House carried out tumultuous negotiations in recent weeks, which ultimately resulted in a trade agreement on July 27.
— Ruxandra Iordache
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 31, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that modified “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries, with experts warning more tariff hikes could be on the table.
“Of particular concern is the continued uncertainties [trading partners] will face with new sectoral tariffs coming and possibilities of additional tariffs if the Administration believes countries are not operating in good faith in their implementation efforts,” said Wendy Cutler, a former deputy U.S. trade representative.
“No doubt about it — the executive order and related agreements concluded over the past few months tears up the trade rule book that has governed international trade since WW2. Whether our partners can preserve it without the United states is an open question,” added Cutler, who is also a senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Stephen Olson, senior visiting fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former U.S. trade negotiator, was of the same view: “Don’t assume this is the end of the story … more deals and further tariff increases are almost certain to follow.”
“Countries wishing to trade with the U.S. will now face dramatically higher tariffs that could be further increased at the whim of a president who has shown a disdain for trade rules and agreements, even those he himself has signed,” Olson added.
Read more about the latest tariff announcement here.
— Anniek Bao
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks after touring steel fabricator Walters Group in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada July 16, 2025.
Carlos Osorio | Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the U.S. increasing tariffs to 35% on the country had “disappointed” its government. The duties have already come into effect and are the latest escalation in the months-long U.S.-Canada trade conflict.
“While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,” he said in a statement.
While goods that are covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement will not be affected by tariffs, Carney said.
Other sectors including lumber, steel, aluminium and autos would be “heavily impacted,” he added.
The prime minister also pushed back against the U.S. justifying higher tariffs with cross-border drug flows — an argument Trump has repeatedly made.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a press conference after holding a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico March 6, 2025.
Henry Romero | Reuters
Mexico welcomed news it was granted a 90-day reprieve on a U.S. boost to tariffs to 30% on many goods, to allow for further negotiations.
“We avoided the increase of tariffs announced for tomorrow and we prevailed with 90 days to build a large-scale agreement based on dialogue,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said in a social media update, according to a CNBC translation, citing a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Switzerland is assessing the new situation after it was hit with a new 39% tariff rate under U.S. President Donald Trump’s updated trade regime, the Federal Council said on the X social media platform.
“The Federal Council notes with great regret that, despite the progress made in bilateral talks and Switzerland’s very constructive stance from the outset, the US intends to impose unilateral additional tariffs on imports from Switzerland,” it noted.
The council added that it remains in contact with Washington and will continue pursuing a “negotiated solution.”
— Ruxandra Iordache
In Asia, leaders from Taiwan, Cambodia and Japan have reacted to the new tariff rates from U.S. President Donald Trump, with some expressing optimism over lower levy rates.
Some governments, like those of Japan and Thailand, had also promised support to help businesses cope with the impact of the tariffs.
Australia, which received the lowest tariff of 10%, saw its trade minister reportedly hail this as a “vindication” for the government, adding that the country had conducted diplomacy with the U.S. in a “cool and calm” way.
Read more reactions to the Trump tariffs here.
— Lim Hui Jie, Sophie Kiderlin
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One as he departs Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen in Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, July 29, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
US President Donald Trump has updated tariff rates for a spate of countries, ramping up trade barriers with some of Washington’s closest trading allies.
Among those hit, Canada has been slapped with a 35%, while Switzerland’s rate is now 39%, while Taiwan faces a 20% duty. Trump had previously announced India would be hit with a 25% rate.
All of the newly unveiled tariff rates come into effect from Aug. 7.
Mexico has been granted a 90-day extension as negotiators continue trade talks.
— Michael Considine
