Donald Trump to sign executive order on new rates, with effect from August 1 | Today news

US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday (July 31) that will set up new country -specific rates that will come into effect on Friday (August 1), according to the White House. The move comes after months of varying announcements and continuous negotiations with various US trading partners. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the development during a press briefing: “At some point this afternoon or later tonight, the president will sign the executive order. 1 August will come into effect the reciprocal rates.” Details are still unclear for many countries, while Trump has completed trade transactions with important allies such as the European Union, UK, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines and South Korea, with unilateral tariff increases. A blanket is still expected on countries that have not obtained individual agreements, although final decisions have been pending from Thursday afternoon. “The rest of the countries that either do not have an agreement or have a letter will hear about this administration tonight by the midnight deadline,” Leavitt said. New agreements can still be announced in the last hours before the deadline, and Trump’s administration is still working to ensure more transactions. “If more transactions are cut between now and midnight, I will never make up the president. You have seen him do it before,” Leavitt said, referring to Trump’s tendency to finalize agreements at the eleventh hour. Tariff increase on Mexico delayed Trump on social media that the United States and Mexico agreed to expand their existing tariff arrangement for another 90 days, enabling more time for trade negotiations. “The complexities of an agreement with Mexico are somewhat different from other countries because of the problems and assets, of the border. We agreed to for a period of 90 days exactly the same agreement we had in recent short time,” Trump wrote. Under the extension, a 25% rate will continue to apply to goods from Mexico that do not comply with the USMCA terms. In addition, the 50% tariff will remain in power on steel, aluminum, copper and related products. Several orders may be needed. It is unclear how many executive orders the president must sign to fully implement the wide tariff changes. Official provisions should allow US Customs and Border Protection to raise the new duties. While the clock amounts, the final form of the US tariff landscape remains uncertain, with the White House closed at the last moment offers and businesses to end the impact.