Financial markets, which have shown increasing insensitivity to tariff threats from the US, will face a test at the Monday open after President Donald Trump declared a 30% rate for the European Union and Mexico effective Aug.

The president signaled he would seek to use the threat of steep levies to reorient trade and protect his political allies.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, part of Trump’s multi-leader trade team, has reportedly been a key advocate for the pauses. But the label has irked Trump and he insisted Tuesday that the deadline had always been in August. “I didn’t make a change. A clarification, maybe,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting.

Critics say the tariff on Brazil could further erode the Trump administration's credibility as it pursues an aggressive trade agenda.

One of the highest tariffs threatened by President Trump so far is against Brazil, with the president citing a criminal prosecution against Jair Bolsonaro.

The pause on the biggest of Trump's tariffs won't end this week, as planned, but the problems they present still loom large.

President Donald Trump has been sending letters to countries outlining higher tariffs they’ll face if they don’t make trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1.

While Mexico was spared from Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariff rollout on April 2, the 30% rate for the E.U. is 10% higher than what the president said he would apply to America's largest trading partner in April.