US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on countries around the world have come into effect in an escalation of his trade war.”IT’S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” he said on social media minutes before midnight in Washington, DC.Also on Wednesday, Trump hit India with a 50% tariff on its goods, which will take effect on 27 August unless itstops buying Russian oil.Trump also threatened a 100% tariff on foreign-made computer chips as he pushes tech firms to invest in the US. It came as Apple announced a new$100bn US investment(£75bn) after coming under pressure from the president to move more production to America.

Last week, the White House announced a revised list of import taxes on dozens of trading partners and extended a deadline for countries to reach deals with the US to 7 August.Countries have been racing to strike deals with Washington to lower – or scrap – what Trump calls “reciprocal tariffs”.His trade policies are aimed at reshaping the global trading system, which he sees as treating the US unfairly.Export-dependent economies in South East Asia were among the hardest-hit by Trump’s tariffs.Manufacturing-focused Laos and Myanmar faced some of the highest levies at 40%. Some experts said Trump appears to have targeted countries withclose trade tieswith China.Some major economies – including theUK,JapanandSouth Korea- have already reached agreements to get lower tariffs than Trump threatened to impose on them.TheEuropean Unionhas also struck a framework deal with Washington, in which Brussels has accepted a 15% tariff on the the trading bloc.Taiwan, a key Washington ally in Asia, was handed a 20% tariff. Its president Lai Ching-te said the rate is “temporary” and that talks with the US are still underway.Last week, Trump boosted the tariff rate on Canada from 25% to 35%, saying the country had “failed to cooperate” in curbing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs across the US border. The Canadian government says it is cracking down on drug gangs.But most goods Canadian exports to the US will dodge the import tax due to an existing trade treaty, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).Higher tariffs on Mexico were paused for another 90 days as negotiations continue to strike a trade deal.

特朗普宣布对进口半导体及多国商品加征关税

周三，特朗普表示将对进口半导体征收100%关税。不过，主要芯片制造商若已在美国进行重大投资，似乎可以避开新关税。台湾和韩国政府官员在分别发表的声明中表示，台积电、SK海力士和三星将获得豁免。白宫未立即回应BBC的澄清请求。BBC也已联系SK海力士和三星，台积电则拒绝置评。

同日，特朗普将印度输美商品关税提高至50%，以此施压这个世界第三大能源进口国停止从俄罗斯购买石油。新德里方面称此举”不公平、不合理且不正当”，并誓言保护本国利益。

巴西对美出口商品同样面临50%关税。特朗普在指控巴西总统卢拉·达席尔瓦不公平攻击美国科技公司，并将前总统博索纳罗因涉嫌政变遭起诉称为”政治迫害”后，实施了这项关税。

美中两国已举行一系列会谈，试图就延长将于8月12日到期的90天关税暂停期达成协议。

【本文精选自BBC，原文链接：https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx23jmvn5yzo】