The US has set 1 August as a new deadline for countries to reach trade agreements in order to avoid a return to 2 April tariff levels.

President Donald Trump’s surprise April tariffs caused major global equity indices to fall 12% to 13% in the week before the US delayed implementation of new tariffs until 9 July (now put back to August).

So far he has written to 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, detailing the 25% levies they will face. Japan sent more than $148bn in goods to the US last year, making it the fifth largest importer into the country. On 13 May, the US and China announced a 90-day reprieve.

This week should see a mix of positive and negative news on tariffs as the US announces some framework agreements with selected trade partners. The US and UK announced a trade framework on 8 May.

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