10 July 2025 : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent tariff letters to seven smaller trading partner countries, saying that the formula for calculating the rates was based on common sense.
The Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, and Sri Lanka have been hit with tariffs. When asked about the basis for his tariffs on the listed countries, Trump said it was common sense and deficits, among other factors.
“The formula was a formula based on common sense, based on deficits, based on how we have been treated over the years, and based on raw numbers…. They are based on very substantial facts and also past history,” Trump told the media.
It must be noted that none of the listed countries is a major industrial rival to the United States. Still, Trump claimed that before he took office, the White House never had ‘anybody who understood the numbers’.
“You look at the past history, we never had anybody in the White House who understood the numbers. We have taken hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we haven’t even started yet,” he added.
Later in the day, Brazil, the second-biggest supplier of steel to the US after Canada, was also added to the list
Reasons for Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil
Donald Trump’s threat to impose 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods sent the country’s currency plunging. The US leader sharply escalated a dispute with Latin America’s largest nation and leftist leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In a letter posted to his social media account, Trump cited Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing former president and Lula rival who is facing a trial on charges that he attempted a coup following his 2022 election defeat.
Trump made a direct link to politics, saying he was making the change “due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.”
The charges against Bolsonaro, a leader who mimicked Trump’s political style during his presidency, stem from an investigation into post-election riots in Brazil’s capital that have been compared to the January 6, 2021, insurrection attempt in Washington. Bolsonaro has repeatedly appealed for Trump’s help as his legal woes mount.
Brazil had been set to face the minimum 10% levy under the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs Trump originally unveiled in April. The letter, the latest of more than 20 posted by Trump in recent days, was the first substantial upward revision from previously announced rates.
Summary:
Donald Trump announced new tariffs on seven smaller trading nations, citing economic imbalance and labeling the move a matter of “common sense.”