US President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs go into effect

The US has started levying higher import taxes on goods from dozens of countries, four months after President Donald Trump first announced his plans to impose steep tariffs in a bid to reshape the global trading system.

Products coming into the US from more than 60 nations as well as the EU will be subject to rates of up to 50% from Thursday, the White House said.

The imposition of country-specific rates follows months of frantic trade negotiations ahead of an August deadline set by Trump.

The US president unveiled a sweep of so-called "reciprocal tariffs" in early April, before pausing them for 90 days and then for a further four weeks.

Many countries managed to reduce the original rates by reaching agreements with Washington.

After deals with the Trump administration, the EU and Japan will now have their US imports taxed at 15%, below the threatened rates of 30% and 25% respectively.

Elsewhere, Asian nations including Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam settled for levies of around 20%.

Other countries face steeper rates, with Laos as well as war-torn Myanmar and Syria struck with tariffs of at least 40%.

Meanwhile, goods from Brazil are being taxed at 50%, partly as a result of Trump's displeasure at the country's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Uncertainty remains

The Trump administration has given some trade partners, including India and China, longer to cut deals.

The US president has yet to announce whether he will extend a 12 August deadline for reaching a trade agreement with China that would forestall earlier threats of tariffs of up to 245%.

India also has no broad trade agreement with Trump.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that could increase India's tariff rate from 25% to 50% over its continued purchase of Russian oil. Washington has given the country 21 days to respond.

These tariffs, according to Indian exporters, will severely hamper their ability to compete with countries facing lower rates.

A top body of Indian exporters said Thursday the tariffs will impact nearly 55% of the country’s outbound shipments to America and force exporters to lose their long-standing clients.

“Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins are already thin,” S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said in a statement.

Switzerland is also among those countries that have not reached a trade agreement with Washington.

The European nation's executive branch, the Federal Council, was expected to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday after President Karin Keller-Sutter and other top Swiss officials returned from a hastily arranged Washington trip that aimed to reduce Trump’s 39% tariffs.

On her X account, Keller-Sutter posted photos of meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — with whom her team discussed tariffs and other issues — as well as with US and Swiss business leaders.

She made no reference to any deal to bring down the US tariffs on Swiss products, which are among the highest imposed on any country by the Trump administration.