08/07/2025

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JULY 8, 2025

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US nears trade deals as tariff deadline delayed

Japan must reduce reliance on America: Opposition head TOKYO: Japan must diversify trade ties beyond the US market to mitigate risks and focus on partnerships with countries favouring free trade, Hirofumi Yoshimura, co-representative of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, said yesterday. Tokyo should seek a “win-win” situation in trade negotiations but tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump show how the US is a country risk for Japan – or a source of uncertainty that could hurt its economy, Yoshimura said. “Japan should expand trade ties with countries that focus on free trade,” such as Europe, and leave itself more options to protect its economy, he told Reuters in an interview. “Instead of standing on just one, big pillar like the US, Japan should stand on, say, five to 10 smaller pillars. That’s a better approach to avoid its roof from falling off.” The remarks came as Japan faces the risk of sustained, steep US tariffs after stalled trade talks led to criticism by Trump that Japan was engaging in “unfair” automobile trade. The views of small, opposition parties such as the Japan Innovation Party could gain importance after an upper house election on July 20, where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faces an uphill battle. Recent media polls including one by the Yomiuri newspaper showed the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito may lose their majority in the upper house – an outcome analysts say could force Ishiba to step down or seek an alliance partner. The LDP-Komeito ruling camp is already a minority coalition in the lower house, forcing Ishiba to seek the cooperation of opposition parties to pass some bills through Parliament. Ishiba maintained his hard-line stance on trade talks with Washington in a television programme on Sunday, saying Japan will continue to demand the elimination of US automobile tariffs and “won’t make concessions easily”. US tariffs would add to woes for Japan’s economy, which contracted in the first quarter as consumption took a hit from rising living costs. Yoshimura said Japan must focus on deregulation to revitalise the economy and reforms to rein in its ballooning social welfare costs that are straining its finances. On monetary policy, Yoshimura said the Bank of Japan should continue to phase out its ultra-loose policy but at a slow, cautious pace. – Reuters higher than the 19.38% rate imposed in March, according to the statement. “Domestic production suffered significant damage,” it said. “There is a correlation between the dumped imports from China and damage to the domestic sector.” Vietnam launched an anti-dumping investigation last July following complaints from Vietnamese producers. The government had said that in the January-September period of last year Vietnam imported nearly 8.8 million tons of hot-rolled steel, 72% of which originated from China. – Reuters

o Trump threatens extra 10% levies on countries ‘aligning’ with BRICS WASHINGTON: The United States is close to finalising several trade pacts in coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by July 9, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, with the higher rates set to take effect on Aug 1. Since taking office, Trump has set off a global trade war that has roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies, through efforts such as deals with the United States and other countries. In April Trump unveiled a base tariff rate of 10% on most countries and additional duties of up to 50%, but later gave a three-week reprieve until tomorrow for all but 10% of them. Trump, whose remarks to reporters on Sunday came just before his return to Washington from a weekend golfing in New Jersey, had flagged the Aug 1 date earlier, but it was unclear if all tariffs would increase then. Asked to clarify, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the higher tariffs would take effect on Aug 1, but Trump was “setting the rates and the deals right now”. In a posting on his Truth Social website, Trump later said the US would start delivering tariff letters from 12pm ET on Monday (12am today in Malaysia). In a separate post, he rolled out a wholly new tariff policy, calling for countries “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies” of the BRICS developing nations to be charged an extra 10% tariff, with no exceptions to be granted. The first BRICS summit in 2009 was attended by leaders from Brazil, China, India and Russia, with South Africa joining later while Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were included last year. Trump has close ties to leaders of some of those countries, such as Saudi Arabia and UAE, and has been touting the prospect of a trade deal with India for weeks. On Sunday, BRICS leaders condemned attacks on Gaza and Iran, called for reforms to global institutions and warned that the rise in tariffs threatened global trade. It was not immediately clear if Trump’s tariff threat would derail trade talks with India, Indonesia and other BRICS nations, however. Earlier on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN’s State of the Union that JAKARTA: Indonesia’s flour mills association will sign a deal to import at least one million metric tons of US wheat annually for the next five years in a US$1.25 billion (RM5.3 billion) deal, it told AFP yesterday, as Jakarta lays the groundwork to avoid the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto told AFP last week Jakarta would step up agriculture imports from the United States to avoid tougher levies Washington says will come into force on Aug 1 without a new agreement. “We already have an agreement between US Wheat (Associates) and Aptindo (to buy) one million metric tons 2026 to 2030,”Indonesian Flour Mills Association head Franciscus Welirang said

Trump and Lutnick speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey. – AFPPIC

countries that are in the process of making those concessions ... might see their date rolled.” Bessent told CNN the Trump administration was focused on 18 important trading partners that account for 95% of the US trade deficit. But he said there had been “a lot of foot-dragging” among countries in finalising trade deals. Thailand, keen to avert a 36% tariff, is now offering greater market access for American farm and industrial goods and more purchases of US energy and Boeing jets, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told Bloomberg News on Sunday. India and the US are likely to make a final decision on a mini trade deal in the next 24 to 48 hours, local Indian news channel CNBC-TV18 reported on Sunday, with average tariffs of 10% on Indian goods shipped to the US. Hassett told CBS News that framework agreements already reached with Britain and Vietnam offered guidelines for other countries. He said Trump’s pressure was prompting countries to move production to the US. The Vietnam deal was “fantastic”, Miran said. “It’s extremely one-sided. “We get to apply a significant tariff to Vietnamese exports. They’re opening their markets to ours, applying zero tariff to our exports.” – Reuters

several big trade agreements would be announced in the next days, adding that European Union talks had made good progress. Trump would also send letters to 100 smaller countries with which the United States does not have much trade, notifying them of higher tariff rates, he added. “President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on Aug 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Bessent said. “So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly.” Kevin Hassett, who heads the White House National Economic Council, told CBS’s Face the Nation programme there might be wiggle room for countries engaged in earnest negotiations. “There are deadlines, and there are things that are close, and so maybe things will push back past the deadline,” Hassett said, adding that Trump would decide. Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told ABC News’ This Week programme that countries needed to make concessions to get lower tariff rates. “I hear good things about the talks with Europe. I hear good things about the talks with India,” Miran said. “And so I would expect that a number of yesterday, referring to the export market development organisation. “In the context of Indonesia’s tariff negotiation, we as private business together with American private business, US Wheat (Associates) agreed to make an agreement,” he said. Indonesia, which counts the United States among its top trading partners, is facing an extra 32% tariff on top of a base 10%. Data from the US trade representative office shows Washington’s goods trade deficit with Jakarta was US$17.9 billion in 2024. Airlangga pledged that Jakarta would also step up its energy and merchandise imports to close the trade gap. – AFP

Jakarta, Washington to sign MoU on US$1.25 billion wheat purchases

Vietnam imposes anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled steel from China HANOI: Vietnam has imposed an

anti-dumping levy of up to 27.83% on some hot-rolled coil steel products originating from China after a similar temporary tariff expired, the Trade Ministry said yesterday. The tariff took effect from July 6 and will be in place for five years, the ministry said in a statement. In March, the ministry imposed a similar temporary anti-dumping levy that lasted for 120 days. Among the companies hit by the 27.83% duties are Baoshan Iron & Steel and Maanshan Iron & Steel. Guangxi Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group will also face duties of 23.1%,