President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would have new tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners to go into effect on August 7. (Produced by Elaine Carroll)
As President Trump lashed out at the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after a disappointing jobs report Friday, GOP senators showed far more restraint in pointing fingers or calling for immediate rate cuts.
“The important part is that the markets see them as being independent and making the analysis based upon the data that they have in front of them,” said Sen. Mike Rounds.
Sen. Rick Scott, a loyal Trump ally, acknowledged that “we didn’t have as good jobs numbers as people would like” but added that “our economy is going to get better.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski showed skepticism about the president’s plan with tariffs, saying, “It’s kind of like going all over the place.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune continued to back the president, saying that “tariffs impacts have been minimal.”
“Time will tell,” said Thune.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protestors on Friday occupied the lobby of the Manhattan office of U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, the latest sign of U.S. political backlash over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Videos and pictures posted on X showed protestors chanting “Stop starving Gaza, let Gaza live” while a yellow sign was placed on the floor that read “Let Aid in Now.” One image showed protestors holding a sign that read “Jews for Palestinian Freedom,” while in others some of the protestors could be seen wearing shirts that read “Jews say let Gaza live.”
The offices of Schumer and Gillibrand, both Democrats, did not immediately return emailed requests for comment.
Democratic officials on Friday accused the Trump administration of unlawfully intimidating health care providers into stopping gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The state attorneys general for 15 states plus the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania’s governor said in a lawsuit in federal court in Boston that the president’s efforts, including investigations of providers, are an attempt to end care that’s legal.
Trump has attempted to cut off federal funding for the care for those under age 19. His administration has prioritized fraud investigations of providers, and it’s sent subpoenas to some of them.
At least eight major hospitals and hospital systems announced in July that they would limit or end the care, which advocates say is essential to the health of transgender young people.
The family planning supplies stored in a warehouse in Belgium includes contraceptives intended for women in war zones and refugee camps. The stockpile’s fate has been uncertain since the Trump administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Belgium is in talks with U.S. diplomats to save the supplies. The European Union is monitoring the situation, while aid groups have offered to distribute the contraceptives. Two U.S. senators say destroying them would be a waste, harmful for women and damage U.S. prestige.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said Thursday that the administration is still “determining the way forward.”
▶ Read more about the contraceptives stockpile
The federal Bureau of Prisons says the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein has been moved from a federal prison in Florida. A lawyer for Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, confirmed the transfer to the camp in Bryan, Texas but declined to comment on the circumstances.
Maxwell’s case has generated renewed attention following the Justice Department’s much-scrutinized handling of documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation. She was interviewed at a Florida courthouse over two days with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last week.
The House Oversight Committee has said it wants to speak with Maxwell as well. Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said she would be open this but only if the panel gives her immunity from prosecution for anything she says.
Republican leaders, meanwhile, have encouraged their members to promote more popular aspects of the bill during smaller controlled appearances less likely to feature difficult questions or protests — especially over the Medicaid cuts that will leave millions without health care coverage.
The Democratic National Committee’s “Organizing Summer” features events in all 50 states and advertising targeting vulnerable House Republicans, “ensuring Americans across the country know exactly who is responsible for taking away health care, food, construction jobs, and nursing homes in order to give massive handouts to billionaires,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said.
▶ Read more about how members of Congress are facing constituents — or not
The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the U.S. uninsured population will grow by 10 million, due to Trump’s tax and spending law. And thanks to a natural experiment nearly two decades ago, health researchers can forecast the impact on patient care as the uninsured delay treatments, cancel doctor visits and skip prescriptions:
- About 2.5 million people may no longer have a personal doctor.
- About 1.6 million patients will take on medical debt.
- The lack of care may cause nearly 22,000 deaths annually.
“There’s really no questioning the basic reality that you can’t take health care away from 10 million people without causing many preventable deaths,” said Dr. Adam Gaffney, a lead researcher on a team that explored the new law’s impact.
▶ Read more about research on the impact of Trump’s Medicaid cuts
Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a news conference on tariffs on Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The Senate Democratic leader is blaming Trump’s tariffs for the sharply slowing U.S. hiring, saying Friday’s jobs report is “the latest warning sign that this tariff chaos must end.”
The Labor Department shaved its estimates for May and June, reporting that about 258,000 fewer jobs were created than previously projected. “It is disturbing to say but the chickens are coming home to roost on Donald Trump’s destructive trade war and the American people are paying the price,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
The tariffs a tax hike on American families, he said, urging Trump to “reverse course.”
In a report issued Friday, Human Rights Watch called the current setup “a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”
“It would be near impossible for Palestinians to follow the instructions issued by GHF, stay safe, and receive aid, particularly in the context of ongoing military operations, Israeli military sanctioned curfews, and frequent GHF messages saying that people should not travel to the sites before the distribution window opens,” the report said.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. The Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds. Responding to Friday’s report, it accused Hamas of sabotaging the aid distribution system and said it’s working to make the routes under its control safer.
At a Friday press conference in Gaza City, representatives of the territory’s influential tribes accused Israel of empowering factions that loot aid sites and implored Witkoff to stay just a few hours in Gaza, so he can see their desperate situation for himself.
“We want the American envoy to come and live among us in these tents where there is no water, no food and no light,” they said. “Our children are hungry in the streets.”
Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said they have received the bodies of 25 people, including 13 who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that U.S. officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent deaths happened near United Nations aid convoys. Israel’s military did not immediately comment.
This handout photo from US Embassy Jerusalem shows White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, visiting a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Gaza City, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (David Azaguri/US Embassy Jerusalem via AP)
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured one of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution sites in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, on Friday amid international outrage over starvation, aid shortages and deadly chaos near distribution sites.
All four of the U.S. and Israeli group’s sites are controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation during their months of operation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. Hundreds have been killed by either gunfire or trampling. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding.
Witkoff’s visit comes a week after U.S. officials walked away from ceasefire talks. Trump posted on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages.
▶ Read more about the Trump administration and Gaza aid
Protests in Sao Paulo after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose 50% tariffs on Brazil’s exports, citing the country’s policies and the criminal prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro as an “economic emergency” under a 1977 law.
Trump intends the duties to bring back manufacturing to the United States, while also forcing other countries to reduce their trade barriers to U.S. exports.
Goods imported by Americans from the countries Trump has reached deals with face much higher tariffs than those in effect before he took office. Other large trading partners — most notably China and Mexico — received an extension to keep negotiating, but they will likely end up paying more. And countries without an agreement face duties ranging between 10% and 40%, according to Trump’s executive order signed on Thursday.
Trump argues that foreign exporters will pay the cost of the tariffs, but so far economists have found that most are being paid by U.S. companies. Goldman Sachs estimates that foreign exporters are absorbing 20% of tariffs, with U.S. businesses and consumers splitting 80%. Measures of U.S. inflation have started to tick higher as prices of imports rise.
Stocks slumped in morning trading on Wall Street Friday and Treasury yields fell sharply after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring last month.
Markets are also reacting to the latest tariff news — Trump once again extending the date, now to Aug. 7, when punishing import taxes will take effect for a long list of countries. The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, on track to close the week with a loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 599 points, or 1.4% as of 9:44 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 2%.
Worries on Wall Street about a weakening economy were heavily reinforced by Friday’s sharply-lower-than-expected report on U.S. job growth. Labor Department revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls.
Behind a television monitor showing U.S. President Donald Trump, the display board with the Dax curve shows falling share prices, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday April 3, 2025, after the tariff package announced by U.S. President Trump has pushed share prices sharply into negative territory. (Arne Dedert/dpa via AP)
“Trump’s new tariff directive, signed behind closed doors just ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, slaps a new floor under global trade costs: a 10% minimum rate for nearly all partners, with surcharges of 15% or higher for surplus nations,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
“This wasn’t just an update — it was a structural rewrite. The average U.S. tariff jumps from 13.3% to 15.2%, a seismic shift from the 2.3% average before Trump retook office. This reshapes the cost calculus for everything from semiconductors to copper pipes,” he said.
Trump on Friday called for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors to usurp the power of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, criticizing the head of the U.S. central bank for not cutting short-term interest rates.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Powell “stubborn.” The Fed chair has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by the Republican president over several months.
The Fed has the responsibility of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment. Powell, backed by most of the board’s seven governors, has held its benchmark rate for overnight loans constant this year, saying that Fed officials needed to see what impact Trump’s massive tariffs had on inflation.
If Powell doesn’t “substantially” lower rates, Trump said, “THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”
▶ Read more about Trump’s pressure on the Fed chairman
There are no signs yet that tariffs will lead to more domestic manufacturing jobs, and Friday’s employment report showed the U.S. economy now has 37,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than it did in April.
One crucial measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, showed Thursday that prices have climbed 2.6% over the 12 months that ended in June, a sign that price hikes may be accelerating as tariffs flow through the economy. This prospect has caused the Federal Reserve to hold off on additional rate cuts, frustrating Trump, who has called Fed Chair Jerome Powell a “TOTAL LOSER” on his social media platform.
“There are many uncertainties left to resolve,” Powell told reporters Wednesday. “So, yes, we are learning more and more. It doesn’t feel like we’re very close to the end of that process. And that’s not for us to judge, but it does — it feels like there’s much more to come.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government is disappointed by Trump’s move to raise the U.S. tariff on goods from America’s northern neighbor to 35% from 25%, effective Friday. Goods transshipped from unspecified other countries face a 40% import duty.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with media during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
Trump cited what he said was a lack of cooperation in stemming trafficking in illicit drugs across the northern border. He also slammed Canada’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state and has expressed frustration with a trade deficit largely fueled by U.S. oil purchases.
“Canada accounts for only 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce these volumes,” Carney said in a statement.
Many of Canada’s exports to the U.S. are covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and face no tariff. But steel, lumber, aluminum and autos have been subject to still higher tariffs.
U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month and job gains for June were revised sharply lower, from 147,000 to just 14,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. It points to a much weaker job market than previously understood.
Unemployment ticked higher to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%, and the proportion of Americans working or looking for work declined again, possibly reflecting falling immigration and more deportations. Manufacturers cut jobs for the third straight month and have now reduced their payrolls by 37,000 since April.
The weak data makes it more likely that Trump will get one of his most fervent desires: A cut in short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which often — though not always — can lead to lower rates for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. Investors sharply raised expectations for a rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting in September.
Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche says it is working to ensure its patients and customers around the world have access to medications and diagnostics amid the Trump tariff war.
“While we believe pharmaceuticals and diagnostics should be exempt from tariffs to protect patient access, supply chains and ultimately future innovation, we are prepared for potential tariffs being implemented and confident in managing any impacts,” the statement said. “With strengthened U.S. production capacity and proactive measures like inventory adjustments and tech transfer, we are working to ensure uninterrupted access to our products.”
The company announced plans in April to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, creating 12,000 jobs. The company already employs more than 25,000 people in the U.S.
Trump initially imposed the Friday deadline after his previous “Liberation Day” tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic. His unusually high tariff rates then led to recession fears, prompting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period. When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he extended the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, prompting a slew of hasty agreements.
Swiss imports will now be taxed at a higher rate, 39%, than the 31% Trump threatened in April, while Liechtenstein saw its rate slashed from 37% to 15%. Countries not listed in the Thursday night order would be charged a baseline 10% tariff.
Trump negotiated trade frameworks over the past few weeks with the EU, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines — allowing the president to claim victories as other nations sought to limit his threat of charging even higher tariff rates. He said on Thursday there were agreements with other countries, but he declined to name them.
In a flurry of last-minute deal-making, Trump has been announcing agreements as late as Thursday, but they are largely short on details.
On Thursday, the U.S. and Pakistan reached a trade agreement expected to allow Washington to help develop Pakistan’s largely untapped oil reserves and lower tariffs for the South Asian country.
President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
And on Wednesday, Trump announced a deal with South Korea that would impose 15% tariffs on goods from that country. That is below the 25% duties that Trump threatened in April.
Agreements have also been reached with the European Union, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The agreement with the Philippines barely reduced the tariff it will pay, from 20% to 19%.
President Donald Trump meets with Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf club on Monday, July 28, 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland. (Christopher Furlong/Pool Photo via AP)
Trump’s original April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement threatened to impose import taxes of up to 50% on nearly 60 countries and economies, including the 27-nation European Union. Those duties, originally scheduled for April 9, were then postponed twice, first to July 9 and then Aug. 1.
On Wednesday, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, “THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE — IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.”
As of Thursday afternoon, White House representatives — and Trump himself — had insisted that no more delays were possible.
But when Trump signed the order Thursday night imposing new tariffs on 68 countries and the European Union, the start date of the punishing import taxes was pushed back seven days so that the tariff schedule could be updated. The change — while potentially welcome news to countries that had not yet reached a deal with the U.S. — injected a new dose of uncertainty for consumers and businesses still wondering what’s going to happen and when.
Numerous countries around the world are facing the prospect of new tariffs on their exports to the United States on Aug. 7, a potential blow to the global economy, because they haven’t yet reached a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Cranes and shipping containers are seen at a port in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Gang Seon-bae/Yonhap via AP)
Trump intends the duties to bring back manufacturing to the United States, while also forcing other countries to reduce their trade barriers to U.S. exports. Trump argues that foreign exporters will pay the cost of the tariffs, but so far economists have found that most are being paid by U.S. companies. And measures of U.S. inflation have started to tick higher as prices of imported goods, such as furniture, appliances, and toys rise.
Countries without an agreement face duties ranging between 10% and 40%, according to Trump’s executive order signed on Thursday. That includes large economies such as Taiwan and India, as well as many smaller countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and even tiny Lesotho.
▶ Read more about the countries facing new tariffs and a new deadline
Trump has been promising the world economy would change on Friday with his new tariffs in place.
But when Trump signed the order Thursday night imposing new tariffs, the start date of the punishing import taxes was pushed back seven days so that the tariff schedule could be updated. The change injected a new dose of uncertainty for consumers and businesses still wondering what’s going to happen and when.
Trump has promised that his tax hikes on the nearly $3 trillion in goods imported to the U.S. will usher in newfound wealth, launch a cavalcade of new factory jobs, reduce the budget deficits and, simply, get other countries to treat America with more respect.
The vast tariffs risk jeopardizing America’s global standing as allies feel forced into unfriendly deals. As taxes on the raw materials used by U.S. factories and basic goods, the tariffs also threaten to create new inflationary pressures and hamper economic growth — concerns the Trump White House has dismissed.
▶ Read more about the delay in the tariff start date
Trump’s new tariff rates of up to 41% on U.S. imports from dozens of countries drew expressions of relief Friday from some countries that negotiated a deal or managed to whittle them down from rates announced in April. Others expressed disappointment or frustration over running out of time after hitting Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline for striking deals with America’s trading partners.
The new rates are due to take effect on Aug. 7, but uncertainty over what Trump might do next remains. The way ahead for China, which runs the largest trade surplus with the U.S., is unclear after talks earlier this week in Stockholm produced no deal. Trump has yet to say if he’ll extend an Aug. 12 pause on painfully high import duties on Chinese products.
The reaction from financial markets was muted. Benchmarks fell in Asia, with South Korea’s Kospi dropping nearly 4% after the tariff rate for the U.S. ally was set at 15%. The U.S. dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, trading at more than 150 yen per dollar.
▶ Read more about the impact of Trump’s new tariffs
