The U.S. Trade Representative activated new tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 24, just as the previous temporary 10% import duty -- imposed after the Supreme Court struck down the president's sweeping IEEPA tariffs -- reached its expiration. The new duties are grounded in Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, following a months-long USTR investigation into those countries' alleged failure to prohibit goods produced with forced labor.
The list of covered economies spans nearly every major U.S. trading partner. Canada, Mexico, India, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia face a 10% rate, while Taiwan and the European Union -- the largest single U.S. trading partner -- face up to 12.5%. The USTR stated that for countries with existing trade pacts that cap U.S. tariff rates, the new forced-labor duties will not breach those caps. Certain products carry broad exemptions, and cast iron from Brazil and India is explicitly excluded.
For importers, the practical effect is that costs reset immediately on a wide range of goods. Apple's supply chain is directly exposed: the new tariffs apply to countries where nearly every iPhone and Mac are assembled, including facilities operated by Foxconn, Luxshare, and Pegatron. Apple reports fiscal Q3 earnings on July 31, when executives are expected to address gross-margin impact. More broadly, the Tax Policy Center estimates the new Section 301 action, when fully in effect, will raise the average U.S. tariff rate to 10.1% and generate $706 billion over an 11-year budget window.
For small and mid-sized importers, there is no grace period: the duties apply to goods entering consumption from July 24 onward. Businesses that had relied on the expiration of the earlier temporary tariff as a cost-relief window will need to revisit landed-cost models, supplier contracts, and pricing strategies immediately. The USTR has signaled further Section 301 investigations are ongoing, including one targeting Germany's pharmaceutical pricing practices.
The S&P 500 added just 0.05% Friday to close at 7,411.98, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.64% to 24,975.82 as chip stocks sold off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 235.60 points, or 0.46%, to 51,947.25, lifted partly by a 3.5% jump in Apple. Investors entered the weekend focused on the July 28u201329 Federal Reserve meeting, where markets are pricing roughly a 25% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike.
The IMF's July World Economic Outlook update kept its 2026 global growth projection at 3.0%, trimmed from 3.1% in April, while raising its headline inflation forecast by 0.3 percentage points to 4.7% -- attributing the revision chiefly to surging energy and food costs. The fund projects energy prices will remain roughly 25% above pre-conflict levels through much of the year, with a rebound to 3.4% growth expected in 2027. Countries without AI supply-chain exposure or energy exports face the sharpest individual downgrades.
Brent crude fell roughly 3.9% on Friday to around $96.78 a barrel after Reuters reported Pakistan is exploring a path toward new U.S.-Iran peace negotiations at China's initiative. Prices had been elevated throughout the week as the Iran conflict continued to threaten Strait of Hormuz shipping. CNN reported Friday that the oil market faces its biggest structural threat since the war began, with analysts warning that a fresh escalation could push prices past the wartime highs seen earlier in the year. For businesses, elevated energy costs remain a persistent margin headwind regardless of day-to-day price swings.
Alphabet's Waymo is exploring options to exit its exclusive robotaxi partnership with Uber Technologies, according to reporting first published by the Financial Times and confirmed by Bloomberg on July 24. Uber acknowledged that Waymo has given formal notice of plans to launch its own consumer app in Austin and Atlanta starting January 2028, which would end Waymo's exclusivity in those markets and allow Uber to sign other autonomous vehicle providers. Uber shares fell 4.3% Friday, erasing roughly $6.1 billion in market capitalization. The split follows the earlier end of a Waymo-Uber pilot in Phoenix and reflects deepening disagreements over commercial terms and regulatory strategy.
The Section 301 tariffs that took effect Friday apply to countries where nearly every iPhone and Mac are assembled, including factories operated by Foxconn, Luxshare, and Pegatron in affected jurisdictions. Apple has already announced price increases across several product lines, driven by rising memory and component costs, and the company is scheduled to report fiscal Q3 2026 earnings on July 31. Investors will be closely watching gross margin guidance and any signals around further supply-chain diversification into India and Vietnam.
The Federal Reserve's July 2026 Monetary Policy Report, released this month, noted that while bank lending grew in the first half of 2026, small businesses and households continued to face relatively tight credit conditions. Treasury yields have risen since the start of the year, with the largest increases at shorter maturities, as market expectations of a higher federal funds rate path pushed up real interest rates. The July 28u201329 FOMC meeting is now the primary near-term catalyst for borrowing costs, with Fed Governor Christopher Waller having signaled that inflation has become the central policy concern.
Volkswagen reported Q2 net profit of u20ac1.538 billion, down 32.9% from a year earlier, as operating profit fell roughly 10% to u20ac3.5 billion and deliveries dropped 8.6%. The company revised its full-year sales revenue forecast from growth of up to 3% to a decline of up to 3% -- a 6-percentage-point swing -- citing weak China volume (down 36.6%), U.S. tariff costs estimated at u20ac4u20135 billion annually, and fierce competition from Chinese EV makers. VW confirmed plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs as part of its restructuring. The results highlight how tariff-driven cost inflation and market-share erosion are compressing margins simultaneously for large global manufacturers.
The single most urgent action item for any business that imports goods is to recalculate landed costs today. The new Section 301 tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 countries are not prospective -- they are in effect on goods entering U.S. consumption from July 24 onward. That covers suppliers in Canada, Mexico, India, the EU, Taiwan, the UK, and dozens of other economies. Businesses that were counting on the prior temporary tariff expiring as a cost reduction need to reverse that assumption immediately. Review supplier contracts for tariff pass-through clauses, check whether any products qualify for the broad exemptions the USTR has written into the action, and update customer pricing if margins are being squeezed.
The Federal Reserve's July 28u201329 decision is three days away, and a rate hike -- while not the base case -- carries a meaningful probability. Small businesses with variable-rate lines of credit or floating-rate equipment loans should model the impact of a 25-basis-point increase on monthly debt service. Separately, the Waymo-Uber split is a signal worth tracking for any operator in logistics, last-mile delivery, or transportation: the robotaxi market is moving from partnership models toward proprietary platforms, which will reshape pricing and availability in markets where autonomous vehicles operate.