De maximis

The US, India, South Korea, Brazil, and Australia.

The Campaign Issue (The Republican Elephant: Well, the campaign is on. Fill the Dinner-Pail for me. / The Woman in the Case: You great big GOP! How can I give you a Full Dinner-Pail from an Empty Market-Basket?), Udo Keppler, 1912, illustration in Puck (71:1835), Library of Congress, Washington DC.

Hello,

Here are the five things you need to know today:

• UNITED STATES. Trump’s big, beautiful tariffs take shape.

• INDIA. Washington penalises a friend.

• SOUTH KOREA. Lee comes out better than many feared.

• BRAZIL. The IEEPA gets a new test case.

• AUSTRALIA. Beyond beef diplomacy, a rare streak of independence.

And don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn.

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UNITED STATES. Active duties

Trump’s big, beautiful tariffs take shape.

Ahead of his 1 August deadline, Donald Trump issued a raft of tariff announcements, including by suspending 'de minimis' exemptions on imports worth under $800. Copper prices fell 17% after ores were exempted from a 50% levy.

INTELLIGENCE. Besides copper, markets were distracted by hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve and this week's stream of major corporate earnings announcements. Yet the tariffs, which are affecting both the Fed's willingness to cut and economic activity (a drop in Q2 imports saw GDP expand by a surprise 3%), deserve greater attention. This is especially true of the de minimis changes, which could disproportionately hurt small businesses.

FOR BUSINESS. Under the new rules, to enter into force on 29 August, goods shipped by post will either face an ad valorem duty based on the country of origin, or a levy between $80 and $200. Not only will the paperwork be more complex, smaller importers will have less pricing power or margin to "eat" the tariffs. Announcements on Canada, Mexico and Taiwan, among other trading partners, are still outstanding. The day could see further shocks ahead.

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INDIA. Penalty kick

Washington penalises a friend.

Donald Trump threatened India with 25% tariffs plus "a penalty" for trade with Russia and "obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers". Trump later said "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together."

INTELLIGENCE. Latest IMF data puts India's growth rate at 6.2%, the fastest of any