Before midnight in the United States (around 1 a.m. in Italy), president Donald Trump signed the executive order imposing tariffs on partner countries, thus meeting the August 1st deadline. He then announced that the tariffs will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 7th, to allow US Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that regulates the entry of people and goods into the US, to implement the necessary changes to collect the duties. As a White House statement states, the changes will apply "to goods released for consumption or withdrawn from storage for consumption" by that date. Goods loaded on ships and currently in transit, however, will be exempt from the tariffs if they reach the US before October 5th.

As established in the agreement signed in Scotland on July 27 with Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the 15% tariff rate for the European Union has been confirmed, excluding certain product categories (see AVIONEWS). For Canada, however, the tariff rate has already been applied today at 35% instead of 25%. Goods covered by the US-Canada-Mexico trade agreement are exempt from the tax, while the sectors most affected by the tariffs include wood, steel, aluminum, and automobiles. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his "disappointment" in a statement, stating: "Canadians can be our best customer. We can give ourselves more than any foreign government could ever take from us by building with Canadian workers and using Canadian resources for the benefit of all Canadians."

As per the White House executive order, the following percentages are currently in effect for other countries: 10% Falkland Islands, United Kingdom, and all other countries not listed in the executive order; 15% Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe; 18% Nicaragua; 19% Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines; 20% Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam; 25% Brunei, India, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Tunisia; 30% Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, South Africa; 35% Iraq, Serbia; 39% Switzerland; 40% Laos, Myanmar (Burma); 41% Syria. China is still negotiating, and Mexico will face a 25% tariff on fentanyl, 25% on autos, and 50% on steel, aluminum, and copper. For Brazil, the rate will be 50% on most goods, as announced yesterday (see AVIONEWS).