Sweeping new U.S. tariffs take effect

President Donald Trump mocked the leaders of countries trying to negotiate a resolution to the sweeping global import tariffs his administration has imposed.

"I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass," Trump said in a long, digressive speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee's President’s Dinner in Washington.

"They are dying to make a deal. 'Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir,'" he said late yesterday.

In the hours before fresh tariffs on China went into effect, with imports from the country now carrying a cumulative duty of 104%, the president also touched on what he sees as the country's attitude to the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing.

"They want to make a deal. They just don’t know how to get it started because they’re proud people. China will now pay a big number to our treasury," Trump added.

China hasn't announced any additional countermeasures after Trump’s new 50% tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect overnight, but did stress that it “opposes and will never accept such hegemonic behavior.”

Beijing’s 34% tarrifs on U.S. imports go into effect tomorrow.

The U.S., whose levies on China now total 104%, is “abusing tariffs on China and exerting extreme pressure,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular news briefing. The U.S. should “adopt an attitude of equality, respect and reciprocity,” he said, if it wants to “solve the problem through dialogue and negotiation.”

Trump had earlier ruled out any negotations with China if it didn't back off the 34% reciprocal tarrifs imposed after Trump's first round was announced. Yesterday, China said it “will fight to the end if the U.S. insists on its own way.”

Officials in Tokyo decried Trump's 24% tarrifs on Japan that went into effect today, with the government's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi calling them "extremely regrettable."

The tarrifs, he told reporters, "will have a significant impact on the economic relationship between Japan and the United States."

Hayashi's comments came as Jamieson Greer, who was appointed as the U.S. trade representative to negotiate with Japan yesterday called for more market access into the country.

The U.S.'s imposition of a 25% levy on auto imports, and reciprocal 24% tariffs on Japanese goods goods, will likely be a big blow to the country's economy, which is heavily reliant on exports. According to Reuters, analysts predict the higher duties could knock up to 0.8% off economic growth.

Markets in Asia were down Wednesday as Trump’s global tariffs took effect.

The Kospi index in South Korea was down 1.36%, down 20% since July and confirming a bear market, CNBC reported.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 3.8%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 1.55%.

Trump’s unprecedented tariffs on global imports into the United States take effect Wednesday, reshuffling a global economic order that has largely stood for generations. 

The mere announcement of the duties last week sent shock waves through global markets and caused trillions of dollars in paper losses. Now, consumers and investors alike will begin to gauge the actual impact on the U.S. economy as the cost of the import taxes starts to flow through supply chains and into businesses and household budgets.

The average tariff faced by the dozens of nations Trump targeted is 29%, with many as high as 40%. The White House posted the full list here. Chinese imports will carry a cumulative rate of 104% because of new tariffs Trump imposed this year, on top of levies he had already enacted during his first term. Those took effect late Tuesday. 

Read the full story here.

Trump signed an executive order today that will triple U.S. tariffs on packages shipped from China valued under $800 following Beijing’s retaliatory duties of 34% on American goods.

Shipments from China under $800 will now face a duty of 90% of their value or $75, a threefold increase from the 30% or $25 Trump set last Wednesday.

Up until this year, shipments valued under $800, known as de minimis packages, were exempt from tariffs.

The de minimis trade loophole, which Trump eliminated last week, had largely benefited Chinese online retailers such as Temu and Shein.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP filed a motion today seeking to permanently block Trump's executive order targeting the firm, which previously employed Robert Mueller, who led the Russia investigation after the 2016 election.

"Simply put, blacklisting and sanctioning law firms for representing the President’s political opponents, devoting resources to causes the President dislikes, or hiring attorneys who have investigated the President is anathema to our constitutional order," the filing says.

"The Order avowedly—and severely—punishes WilmerHale for its attorneys’ advocacy on behalf of clients and causes the President does not like. And it does so for the avowed purpose of deterring other law firms from engaging in the same constitutionally protected conduct," it added.

Trump said tonight that his administration will "very shortly" announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

"We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals, and once we do that, they’re going to come rushing back into our country, because we’re the big market," Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington.

"The advantage we have over everybody is that we’re the big market, so we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals," Trump added.

Trump has mentioned forthcoming tariffs on pharmaceuticals for weeks, but he has not provided a detailed timeline for their rollout. Pharmaceutical tariffs would be likely to bump up U.S. drug prices for patients.

Trump tonight praised a pair of Supreme Court rulings that pave the way to move forward with his policies tied to immigration and slashing the federal workforce.

"Thanks to the Supreme Court yesterday and today, we had a big ruling, too," Trump said. "We had a very big ruling today, but we will continue to deport these monsters under the Alien Enemies Act."

The Supreme Court yesterday tossed out a judge’s decision to block the removal of men alleged to be Venezuelan gang member to El Salvador without any legal process under the Alien Enemies Act. It said the Trump administration could continue deportations while stipulating that detainees must be given due process.

The court today halted a lower court ruling requiring some federal agencies to reinstate roughly 16,000 workers the Trump administration had terminated as it seeks to reshape the federal government and slash spending.