Trump defends tariffs as more trade announcements expected – live updates

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Trump to potentially visit his Scottish golf courses in coming weeks - Sky News

Plans are being drawn up for Donald Trump to potentially visit his golf courses in Scotland in the coming weeks, Sky News reports, likely at the end of July or beginning of August.

Police Scotland confirmed to Sky News it was preparing for a “potential visit ... later this month”. Senior sources told Sky News the trip could last “more than a couple of days”.

His son, Eric Trump, previously said his father would attend the official opening of a new golf course in Aberdeenshire this summer. The family also owns owns the Turnberry resort in Ayrshire.

The trip would mark Trump’s first visit to Scotland since he won the election in November. His last visit as president in 2018 sparked a security operation with thousands protesting in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and beyond.

Police Scotland’s assistant chief constable Emma Bond told Sky News: “Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland later this month by the president of the United States.

“While official confirmation has not yet been made, it is important that we prepare in advance for what would be a significant policing operation.”

Donald Trump playing golf at his Turnberry course on 2 May 2023. Photograph: Robert Perry/Getty Images

EU optimistic deal can be reached before Trump's tariff deadline

Sources in the European Union, which Donald Trump said could expect a letter regarding its tariff deal in the next 48 hours, said they believed a framework agreement would be reached this week. The agreement is expected to include headline tariff arrangements for a limited number of sectors including cars, steel and medical devices.

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told the Bundestag today: “I am cautiously optimistic that we can succeed in reaching an agreement with the US in the next few days, by the end of the month at the latest.”

Merz said he was in “close contact” with the US government, Trump and the European Commission, and hoped to secure a deal as quickly as possible that linked “mutual trade between the US and the European Union with the lowest possible tariffs”.

Diplomats in Brussels say the EU’s need to restore calm in the wider transatlantic relationship and keep the US tied into the bloc’s defence and security is also driving the desire for a quick deal.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told MEPs today it was ready for contingencies in the event of a collapse in talks.

“We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios,” she told the European parliament.

Copper prices in US hit record high after Trump announces 50% tariff

Copper prices hit a record high in the US after Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that he would impose a 50% tariff on the industrial metal, in the latest escalation of his trade war.

A worker at a copper refinery in Chile. Photograph: Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters

Trump said before a cabinet meeting on Tuesday: “Today we’re doing copper,” proposing a 50% tariff rate for imports. He also threatened to impose a 200% border tax on pharmaceuticals but in a year or a year and a half’s time.

The comments added to the confusion around the president’s ever-changing tariffs after he sent letters on Monday setting rates of up to 40% for more than a dozen countries but coming into effect from 1 August rather than a previously reported 9 July date.

Hours after saying his latest deadline for a new wave of steep duties was “not 100% firm”, Trump wrote on social media that “no extensions” would be granted beyond the August deadline.

In another post on his Truth Social site on Tuesday night, he also promised to release tariff details for a further seven countries on Wednesday morning. Trump added that details on more would be revealed in the afternoon.

Copper futures in the US jumped by more than 10% to $5.682 (£4.18) a pound on the tariff threat overnight, hitting an all-time high. The metal has since been pared back to $5.662.

Conversely, prices elsewhere in the world fell amid fears that Trump’s threatened levy could reduce US appetite for the metal and hit demand globally. On the London Metal Exchange, copper prices fell by as much as 2.4% at the open, before easing to change hands at $9,653 a tonne.

It’s been 90 days since Donald Trump’s “original tariff bonanza”, notes Politico, and today – 9 July – was supposed to mark “the deadline by which time 90-or-so new trade deals were to be agreed; or else punishing new tariffs would kick in.” But after much confusion and flip-flopping yesterday, that deadline has been pushed back once more, this time to 1 August, giving the administration more time to get deals done.

But “a deal” can mean many things, Politico highlights. “The trade framework with the UK was a ‘deal’. The vague handshake with Vietnam last week was a ‘deal’. The detente with China was a ‘deal’. ‘A letter means a deal,’ Trump said, helpfully, during his Cabinet meeting yesterday. ‘The deals are mostly my deal to them.’” So it will be interesting to see where on this spectrum the nature of trading terms Trump is going to unveil today will fall.

More trade announcements expected as Trump defends tariffs

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics today.

Donald Trump said there would be more trade-related announcements this morning after defending his tariffs on Truth Social.

In a post on Tuesday evening, the president said:

We will be releasing a minimum of 7 Countries having to do with trade, tomorrow morning, with an additional number of Countries being released in the afternoon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

That post came shortly after he wrote that “Tariffs have had ZERO IMPACT on Inflation” and – yet again – called for Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates.

On Tuesday, Trump vowed to escalate his trade wars, my colleague Callum Jones reported, threatening US tariffs of up to 200% on foreign drugs and 50% on copper amid widespread confusion around his shifting plans.

An example of Trump’s shifting plans: shortly after saying his latest deadline for a new tariffs was “not 100% firm” yesterday, he declared “no extensions will be granted” beyond 1 August.

Stick with us today as we bring you the latest lines on the Trump administration, tariffs, and everything else in US politics.