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The tariffs are scheduled to go into effect on August 1 for US President Donald Trump. They represent a significant increase in US trade policy, which causes higher prices for consumers and greater financial losses for businesses.

Trump initially delayed “reciprocal tariffs,” which he had announced on April 2, allowing nations to reach trade agreements with the US.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described the August 1 tariffs as a “hard deadline” on Sunday.

What tariffs apply on August 1?

On August 1, several nations will be subject to a string of tariffs. Countries will be subject to various levies, ranging from 15% on Japan and the UE to 50% on Brazil, despite the situation’s continuing dynamic.

Who has made last-minute agreements?

In the last few days, Trump has entered into a number of bilateral trade agreements.

Through a quota system, the US secured $750 billion in energy purchases and lower steel tariffs. In exchange, it reduced auto tariffs by 30% to 15%, keeping them the same for semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

While boosting rice imports in the name of the 100, 000-tonne duty-free quota, Japan committed $550 billion in investments aimed at US industries like semiconductors, AI, and energy. Additionally, it will purchase US-based defense goods, aircraft, and ethanol.

Although Jakarta has only confirmed tariff cuts and significant commodity purchases so far, it is reported that Indonesia has agreed to pay no tax on many US products and increased imports of energy and agricultural products.

The UK also received 1.4 billion litres of ethanol and aerospace export benefits as well as the US duty-free beef quotas and the benefits of the UK’s trade policy.

China’s reciprocal tariffs were reduced from 145 percent to the pre-all-time low of 10 percent. Additionally, fentanyl trafficking is subject to a 20% punitive tariff. As the two negotiate a deal, there will now be a temporary pause for the final tariff rate until August 12. China resumed rare earth exports and accepted Boeing deliveries in line with the cut and eased non-tariff restrictions.

Although not all of the terms in the agreements with the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam have been confirmed by those governments, they also include tariff adjustments and market access.

Which industries are likely to suffer the most?

The worst hit from tariff threats was experienced by automakers, airlines, and consumer goods importers during the first-quarter earnings season, according to a Reuters news agency tracker that examines how businesses are reacting to Trump’s tariff threats.

Costs increased as a result of taxes being levied on electronics like semiconductors.

According to Joseph Foudy, an economics professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, “when you start seeing tariffs at 20 or more, you reach a point where businesses may stop importing altogether.”

According to Foudy, “Firms simply delay major decisions, delay hiring, and economic activity declines.”

Many businesses built up their stockpiles of inventories in advance of rising costs, but economists are all in agreement that the effects of the tariffs in place so far have not been fully felt.

Even the current level of US tariffs, including a baseline 10 percent duty on almost all nations and higher levies on cars and steel, could stymie economic growth, according to a study released last month, and still contribute more than 2 percentage points to the global gross domestic product (GDP) in the medium term.

Prices have gone up, or not?

Until early March, prices of US-made and imported goods saw modest seasonal declines, with imports experiencing even greater declines. Prices rose after broader tariffs were imposed on March 4, including a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on China, despite the first 10% US tariff on Chinese goods (February 4). Domestic goods’ prices increased by half as much as domestic goods’ prices, while prices for imported goods increased by 1.2 points.

Import prices increased sharply after a 10% global tariff was announced on “Liberation Day” on April 2 and a 145 percent increase on China on April 10. Following the May 12 tariff rollback on Chinese goods, prices briefly decreased, but things started to change again in June. Import prices have increased only marginally since March compared to headline tariff rates, increasing by about 3 percent.

Have tariffs sparked financial growth?

Importers have benefited from Trump’s tariffs’ higher taxes. According to US Treasury Department data, the US generated $ 124 billion in tariffs this year between January 2 and July 25. This is a 131 percent increase over the same period last year.

As collections from Trump’s trade campaign increase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted that this could reach $300 billion by the year 2025.

After a Senate vote on the subject, Palestinian rights activists are applauding the growing number of American lawmakers who are willing to restrict access to Israel’s weapons in response to the atrocities committed in Gaza.

In a move that rights advocates have hailed as a significant blow to the bipartisan support that Israel has traditionally enjoyed in Congress, the majority of Democrats in the Senate voted late on Wednesday in favor of a resolution to stop the sale of weapons to Israel.

In a 27-70 vote, Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposed legislation was ultimately rejected, but a record number of lawmakers voted in favor of it in comparison to earlier bills that have been introduced.

It had a tremendous impact. The Democratic Party’s position on Israel is fundamentally changing, according to Yasmine Taeb, the organization’s legislative and political director.

The measure was overwhelmingly opposed by Republican Senators. However, the Democratic caucus had a tally of 27-17. The bill sought to stop Israel from acquiring assault rifles.

In a 24-73 vote, three senators who supported the first bill defected, making it the second bill’s target of bomb shipments.

Leading rights groups have accused the Israeli military of killing Palestinians in a genocide there, prompting both domestic and international outcry.

We simply need to keep fighting, they say.

Only 15 Senators supported Sanders’ plan to stop Israeli weapons entering Israel in April, according to Taeb, adding that Palestinian rights activists are making progress on the issue.

We just need to keep fighting, she told Al Jazeera, “but it’s frustrating.”

“We must continue to exert every effort possible to persuade our leaders in the Senate and House to end the funding of these atrocities.” These bills demonstrate that there is a shift right now. So, it demonstrates how well the pressure is exerting itself.

Israel relies a lot on US weapons to wage its wars on Palestinians and neighbors, which receives billions of dollars annually from the US military.

On Capitol Hill, Israel’s support remained unshakeable for a long time. However, Democrats are increasingly supportive of restricting the flow of US weapons.

The senators who supported the bills were commended by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who described the outcome as a “historical sign of progress.”

The majority of Senate Democrats’ votes yes, according to CAIR government affairs director Robert McCaw, indicate that sentiments in Congress are gradually catching up with the American people, even though last night’s vote should have been 100 to 0 in favor of these resolutions.

Beyond the select few progressive lawmakers who have long been vocal supporters of Palestinian rights, some important Democrats have backed Sanders’ bill.

They included Amy Klobuchar, a well-known centrist, Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Enough is enough, simply put.

Senator Tammy Duckworth also cast a ballot in favor of the measure, saying she has supported Israel for the majority of her career.

In a statement, Duckworth said, “Enough is enough.”

More than 150 people have been starved by Israeli forces in Gaza as a result of the humanitarian crisis there.

“Innocent civilians, including young children, are now starving to death because of Israel’s unacceptable choice to restrict humanitarian and food aid from entering Gaza for months,” Duckworth said.

The end of this famine is “not only a moral imperative, but it also serves the long-term national security of both Israel and our own country.”

The generational shift in the subject has been highlighted by the four new Democratic senators’ votes to block arms from Israel, which were elected last year. The vote was not held for the other two freshman senators.

According to popular opinion polls, young Americans, particularly Democrats, are increasingly opposed to Israel’s abuses of Palestinians.

In a recent Gallup poll, only 9% of respondents under the age of 35 said they approve of Israeli military action in Gaza, and only 6% said they were satisfied with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following Wednesday’s vote, Sanders claimed that the “tide is turning” as a result of the Democratic lawmakers’ increased support for limiting access to weapons by Israel.

The senator stated in a statement that the American people do not want to spend billions on Gaza’s children’s hunger.

“I look forward to Republican support in the near future because the Democrats are moving forward with this issue.”

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The vote was also hailed as a “historical moment,” according to IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish youth organization.

We must use every tool at our disposal to end the blockade and push for a ceasefire and hostage exchange, according to the organization’s executive director, Morriah Kaplan, in a statement.

“It is blatant that a shrinking minority of the Democratic caucus, consisting of 17 senators, support Republicans in continuing the flow of deadly weapons to the Israeli military,” the senators said.

Chuck Schumer, the party’s top senator, and other senior Democrats, cast ballots against the resolutions.

Taeb claimed that Schumer’s vote shows that he is “simply out of touch with the majority of Democratic voters and, incredibly, his own caucus.”

As Americans continue to turn their backs on Israel, Republicans will soon start paying a price for their unwavering support, she added.

The defeat of Sanders’ bills was welcomed with the support of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which has spent millions of dollars to combat Israel’s critics in Congress. However, it claimed that the vote “highlights the growing attempts to advance anti-Israel policies in Congress.”

In an email to supporters, the organization stated that “we know our detractors are working to elect more candidates who want to undermine the US-Israel alliance.”

Construction on a new $ 200 million ballroom is scheduled to begin in September at the White House. The 650-person capacity space will replace the East Wing with a 90,000-square-foot space. Trump and other donors will support it in some way.

As a result of Israel’s punishing blockade of the besieged enclave, Palestinian mothers in the Gaza Strip are desperate to feed their newborns. Some families have to fill bottles with whatever food they can find while others have to fill them with water.

Many mothers are frequently too malnourished to breastfeed their children, according to Dr. Kahlil Daqran, who spoke to Al Jazeera on Thursday.

There is no milk for children under the age of two in the Gaza Strip, according to Daqran, who claims thousands of children are starving.

Because there is no food around, the mothers cannot produce milk, according to these children’s mothers, who also have malnutrition. Our children in Gaza are currently receiving either water or ground-hard legumes, which is harmful.

In an effort to feed four-month-old Joury, Azhar Imad, a 31-year-old woman said she has tahini and water mixed together. She expressed concern that the mixture would make her child ill, though.

She won’t drink the paste, but I’m using it instead of milk. All of these can lead to illnesses, Imad claimed. There is no water in the bottle when I give her some times, she says. I give her herbs, any kind, and caraway.

Since Israel’s military has been bombing Gaza since October 2023, there have been severe food, water, medicine, and other humanitarian shortages.

According to local hospitals, at least two more deaths from Israel’s forced starvation have been reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related fatalities since Israel’s war started to 159, including 90 children.

Palestinian children are particularly vulnerable as hunger grips coastal territory, according to UN officials, who have repeatedly requested that Israel permit an uninterrupted flow of aid supplies.

Israel claims that the UN failed to deliver supplies, making up for the starvation crisis that is roiling the Gaza Strip.

UN officials and a number of countries have refuted that claim and emphasized Israel’s refusal to provide safe passageways for humanitarian organizations to transport aid into Gaza.

Recent airdrops of humanitarian supplies have not done much to address the widespread hunger crisis. The effort was criticized by experts as being dangerous, expensive, and ineffective.

The UN and its partners “continue to take every opportunity to collect supplies from the Israeli-controlled crossings and replenish those platforms with new supplies,” according to Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to reporters on Thursday.

Our coworkers claim that trucks continue to experience protracted delays that put drivers, aid workers, and crowds in danger despite Israeli announcements to secure convoy routes, according to Haq.

The lengthy waits result from Israeli ground forces setting up an ad hoc checkpoint on the route that Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem crossing] has used to leave Gaza.

More Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while attempting to get aid at distribution centers run by the contentious Israeli- and US-backed GHF.

At least 23 people were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on them on Thursday morning as they waited for help near Netzarim junction in central Gaza, according to a source at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The White House announced just hours prior that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff were scheduled to visit Gaza on Friday to inspect the aid distribution sites.

Karoline Leavitt, a press secretary for the White House, stated to journalists that Palestinians would also be able to “hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground.”

Nour Odeh, a journalist from Amman, in Jordan, reported that the trip comes amid growing concern that more than 1, 000 Palestinians have been killed since May while trying to reach GHF sites with US contractors.

Israel is under a lot of pressure and insists that those sites must remain operational despite any increase in aid entering Gaza, according to Odeh.

Israel is not willing to let go of this organization because it is accused of breaking humanitarian law, despite the international community’s opposition to any efforts to do so.

In a statement made available late on Thursday via its Telegram channel, Hamas stated that it is prepared to “immediately” engage in negotiations to end the Gaza war “once the humanitarian crisis and famine are over.”

In Gaza, countless families are still searching for food in vain.

In spite of the lack of infant formula, Nehma Hamouda claims to be struggling to keep her three-month-old granddaughter, Muntaha, alive.

When Muntaha was about to become pregnant, Israeli soldiers shot her mother. She labored prematurely, but she passed away weeks later.

She explained that her granddaughter is still unable to process solid foods, so Hamouda said, “I make tea for the girl.”