Overview

• President Trump issued a decree postponing the tariff enforcement date from July 9 to August 1 and set 25% duties on Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, 30% on South Africa and 40% on Laos and Myanmar.
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that punitive duties could surge to 50% for partners failing to reach an agreement by the new deadline.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a “good exchange” with Trump by phone as the EU intensifies talks to avoid U.S. levies.
• Investors remained cautious with Paris’s CAC 40 roughly flat and Wall Street’s main indices slipping under the weight of tariff uncertainty.
• Trump signaled there will be no further extensions beyond August 1, heightening pressure on exporters to secure concessions.