On 12 July 2025 President Trump detonated the next stage of the trade war, slapping 30 percent tariffs on every good entering the United States from the European Union and Mexico and confirming a 50 percent duty on all copper imports, effective 1 August. The surprise move—announced just as annual customs revenues topped an unprecedented $100 billion—threatens to up-end the USMCA, fracture trans-Atlantic supply chains, and super-charge inflation at home.
