US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a wave of new tariffs on imports from more than 90 countries. The levies – ranging from 10 to 41 percent – had been due to enter force Friday but were pushed back by a week. The trade conflict has reignited tensions between Washington and its traditional allies, with President Emmanuel Macron urging the EU to take a tougher stance.
The duties, announced earlier this week by US President Donald Trump, include a 15 percent tariff on most goods coming from the European Union. Other trade partners including India, Brazil and Canada, are also affected.
Macron has criticised the EU’s handling of trade talks with Washington and is calling for a more forceful approach in future negotiations.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he said Europe had failed to act like a true power.
“This is not the end,” Macron told ministers. “Europe does not yet see itself sufficiently as a power. To be free, you have to be feared. We have not been feared enough.”
He promised that France would approach upcoming talks with “determination and firmness”, and urged greater EU unity in confronting US trade pressure.
The 27-member bloc avoided the harsher tariffs that Trump had previously threatened – he had floated a 30 percent rate – but the new 15 percent duty is still well above pre-2025 levels and is expected to affect key export sectors.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attempted to offer some reassurance, saying “certain agricultural products” would be exempt from the tariffs. She did not give further details.
Wider impact
The new tariffs are part of a broader shake-up of US trade policy. Other countries have been hit even harder, including India and Brazil. From 7 August, a 50 percent tariff will apply to many copper-based goods such as pipes, wires and electrical components.
While raw copper is excluded, the move is likely to raise costs for manufacturers.
EU-US trade deal averts tariff hikes, but sparks unease in Europe
India will also face a 25 percent tariff on its exports, plus further penalties linked to its purchases of Russian arms and energy. Trump criticised India in a post on Truth Social, saying: “We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.”
Brazil is facing 50 percent tariffs in what the White House says is retaliation for the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro – a close Trump ally – over alleged efforts to return to power.
Trump has also imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, calling the case a “witch hunt” and citing national security concerns.
Trade tensions
A 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods will however come into effect on Friday as planned. The White House said late Thursday that Canada had failed to “do more to arrest, seize, detain or otherwise intercept ... traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs".
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also irritated Washington, saying he would declare support for Palestinian statehood at the upcoming UN General Assembly. “This will be very difficult for us to make a trade deal with them,” Trump wrote.
South Korea, meanwhile, managed to avoid the steepest penalties. It reached a last-minute agreement that keeps tariffs at 15 percent and preserves existing duties on cars – a major Korean export. Seoul also pledged to invest $350 billion in the US, Trump said.
