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President Donald Trump unveiled the first in a wave of promised letters that threaten to impose higher tariffs rates on key trading partners, including levies of 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea beginning Aug. 1.

Trump also announced 25% rates on Malaysia and Kazakhstan, while South Africa would see a 30% tariff and Laos and Myanmar would face a 40% levy. The nations were the first in what the president promised would be a flurry of unilateral warnings and trade deals announced on Monday, two days before agreements are due from trading partners facing his April 2 so-called reciprocal levies.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal,” Trump wrote in the letters. 
Trump’s second-term rush to overhaul US trade policies has served as a steady source of uncertainty for markets, central bankers and executives trying to game out the effect on production, inventories, hiring, inflation and consumer demand — routine planning that’s hard enough without costs like tariffs that are on one day, off the next.

Today's show features:

• US Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL) on new tariff announcements from the White House and the passage of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill
• Bloomberg Economics Geo-Economic Analyst for Latin America Jimena Zuniga on this week’s BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro
• Bloomberg News Texas Bureau Chief Julie Fine on deadly flash flooding in the Lone Star State
• Bryan Fairbanks, President and CEO of Trex, on the company outlook and key trends in US manufacturing

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