• July 9 deadline set to be postponed until next month: White House
• Countries aligning with BRICS threatened with steeper tariffs

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 25 per cent on Japan and South Korea on Monday, stepping up pressure on the two key US allies and a dozen other economies to reach trade deals with Washington.

Trump issued similar letters to Malaysia, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Laos, saying he would slap duties on their products ranging from 25pc to 40pc.

However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Trump would sign an executive order later in the day to delay his original July 9 deadline for steeper tariffs to take effect — postponing their imposition to August 1.

Besides Japan and South Korea, she added, there would be approximately 12 other partners receiving letters from Trump soon.

With the deadline extension, Leavitt noted that Trump would set out the “reciprocal tariff rate” for partners in the coming month as negotiations continue.

Asked why Trump opted to start with South Korea, Leavitt said: “It’s the President’s prerogative, and those are the countries he chose.”

“This announcement will send a chilling message to others,” said Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler, referring to Trump’s initial announcements on Tokyo and Seoul.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believed there would be a number of deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”

Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on imports from almost all trading partners in early April, but some economies including the European Union were slated to have this rate increase further. As markets plunged at the time, Trump halted the steeper levies to allow for talks. That pause expires on Wednesday.

‘Anti-American policies’

Also, in a social media post on Monday, Trump threatened another 10pc tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.

On Sunday, BRICS leaders described Trump’s stop-start tariff wars as “indiscriminate”, damaging, and illegal, drawing a quick rebuke from the pugilistic US president.

The 11-nation grouping — which also includes US allies Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia — is concluding a two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro.

BRICS members account for about half the world’s population and 40pc of global economic output.

Some US allies inside the bloc had tried to blunt criticism by not mentioning Trump by name in their summit statement.

Saudi Arabia — one of the world’s biggest purchasers of US high-tech weapons — even kept its foreign minister away from Sunday’s talks and a BRICS “family photo” of leaders, seemingly to avoid Washington’s ire.

Climate financing

Earlier, the leaders of the BRICS addressed the shared challenges of global warming on Monday, the final day of their summit in Rio de Janeiro, demanding that wealthy nations fund mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in poorer nations.

In his opening remarks, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blasted denialism of the climate emergency, indirectly criticising President Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“The Global South is in a position to lead a new development paradigm without repeating the mistakes of the past.”

A joint statement from BRICS leaders released on Sunday argued that petroleum will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, particularly in developing economies.

In their joint statement, BRICS leaders also underscored that providing climate finance “is a responsibility of developed countries towards developing countries,” which is the standard position for emerging economies in global negotiations.

The BRICS leaders also blasted policies such as carbon border taxes and anti-deforestation laws, which Europe recently adopted, for imposing what they called “discriminatory protectionist measures” under the pretext of environmental concerns.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2025