US braces for Trump's massive own goal

Last week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order updating the "reciprocal" tariff rates that had been paused since April.

- PETER DRAPER AND NATHAN HOWARD GRAY

Nearly all US trading partners are now staring down tariffs of between 10 and 50 per cent.

After a range of baseline and sector-specific tariffs came into effect earlier this year, many economists had predicted economic chaos. So far, the inflationary impact has been less than many predicted.

However, there are worrying signs that could all soon change, as economic pain flows through to the US consumer.

Trump's latest adjustments weren't random acts of economic warfare. They revealed a hierarchy, and a pattern has emerged.

Countries running goods trade deficits with the US (that is, buying more than they sell to the US), which also have security relationships with the US, get 10 per cent. This includes Australia.

Japan and South Korea, which both have security relationships with the US, were hit with 15 per cent tariffs, likely due to their large trade surpluses with the US.

But the rest of Asia? That's where Trump is really turning the screws. Asian nations now face average tariffs of 22.1 per cent.

Countries that negotiated with Trump, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines, all got 19 per cent, the "discount rate" for Asian countries willing to make concessions.

India faces a 25 per cent rate, plus potential penalties for trading with Russia.