Trump tariff deadline extended as new threats issued

The date for Trump's tariffs to take effect has been extended, with deals being sent to countries from Monday evening, the president said.

The 90-day pause on country-specific taxes on US imports was due to end on Wednesday, but instead will expire on 1 August, the Trump administration said. Money blog: 'I get paid to taste biscuits' The US president's signature economic policy of tariffs meant countries across the world were hit with individual tariffs, causing havoc with international trade.

But Mr Trump appeared to be in deal-making mode early Monday, posting on his social media network, Truth Social, that countries would receive "letters and/or deals" from 5pm UK time. However, he also made an additional threat of an extra 10% tariff for "any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS".

Market reaction The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) organisation of countries also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Reaction has been far more muted than the big market moves when the country-specific tariffs were announced on 2 April's "Liberation Day" announcement, but the news has not been welcomed.

Many major stock indexes in Asia closed down, while the UK's benchmark index of 100 most valuable London Stock Exchange-listed firms, the FTSE 100, fell around 0.1% on the open. BRICS members India saw its NIFTY 50 index fall 0.1%, China saw its Shenzhen Component shed 0.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.23%.

Read more:What happens to your pension when you die?Take away government's control of redress schemes, say Post Office victims The Shanghai Composite, however, was up 0.02%. Based on pre-market trading, US stocks look set to open down.

Deals While the UK reached an agreement with the US to circumvent the worst of tariffs, many of the world's largest economies are yet to strike a deal. Tariffs on UK steel exports to the US are still expected to come into force on 9 July.

The UK had been spared from the 50% tax on aluminium and steel. The European Union, India, Japan and Canada have yet to reach an agreement.

An agreement with China, the world's second biggest economy, has held despite allegations of deal-breaking on both sides..