With a bold stroke, the latest tax rate table from U.S. President Trump was finalized just hours before the deadline.

On the evening of July 31, he signed an executive order to fully advance the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" into a new phase.

This tariff list will officially take effect at midnight on August 7. According to the latest plan, the tariff rates for most countries and regions will be raised to 15%. Some major trading partners have secured lower rates due to signed agreements— the UK, Japan, South Korea, and the EU have committed to investing in the US and opening their markets, with rates reduced to 10%-20%; Mexico has managed to suspend the escalation of tariffs for 90 days.

For those countries that have not made sufficient concessions to the United States in recent negotiations, or are deemed to have trade imbalances by the White House, the numbers on the list appear cold and direct: Canada 35%, Brazil 50%, Syria, Laos, and Myanmar over 40%. This moment signifies that new barriers are being erected.

Highest tariffs since 1933

Fitch Ratings' latest report states that the new tariffs will raise the effective tariff rate in the U.S. to 17%, which is the average paid by U.S. importers.

Nowadays, very few Americans have seen such a high actual tariff rate.

The Yale University Budget Lab states that this means the United States will implement the highest tariffs since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1933. That year, this act exacerbated the Great Depression and nearly shut down international trade channels.

Last year, the actual tariff rate on imported products in the United States was only 1.2%, remaining low for decades.

It is this long-term low tariff environment that has allowed American companies to produce overseas and then transport it back to the domestic market at a low cost. However, now, the sharp increase in tariffs is reshaping the cost logic of multinational production and trade.

Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University, described it to The New York Times as "a dark day in the history of global trade integration."

"Trump has decisively and irreversibly dealt a heavy blow to the rules-based global trading system, shattering it, and it will be difficult to reintegrate it for a long time to come," he said.

The American company has become the largest "taxpayer".

For companies, this tariff schedule is not just a policy document, but a direct cost bill. Data from the U.S. Treasury shows that tariff revenue soared to $27 billion in June this year, nearly four times that of the same period last year. Both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal note that most of the tariff costs are borne directly by U.S. importers—the price reductions from exporting countries are limited and cannot offset the tax burden.

From automobiles to daily necessities, American companies have been absorbing costs. Ford's latest financial report has raised its cost expenditure forecast due to tariffs to $800 million. American toy maker Hasbro stated that tariffs will lead to an additional $60 million in expenses. Procter & Gamble has issued a warning that it will raise the prices of a quarter of its products starting in August.

Retail giants Walmart and Target are currently relying on inventory digestion to stabilize prices, but they frequently use terms like "price adjustment" and "strategic pricing" in their financial reports to avoid directly stating "price increase," in order to alleviate consumer expectation pressure.

However, a survey by the New York Fed shows that this buffer is rapidly dissipating—about 70% of manufacturing companies and 50% of service companies have begun to partially raise prices, but less than half have fully passed on the costs.

At present, the feelings of American consumers are not yet apparent, but with the new tariffs coming into effect, this line of defense will be breached.

"Merchants can only hold on for so long." said Pulis, president of the American Footwear Wholesale and Retail Association.

Andrew Wilson, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, warned that as inventories are depleted, inflation caused by tariffs will fully manifest in the fourth quarter of this year to the first quarter of next year, and this lag is likely to exacerbate the steep rise in prices in the future.

Fitch also cautioned that although the current impact on the US domestic economy is less than expected, signs indicate that the new tariffs are reigniting inflation and beginning to weigh on economic growth.

On the surface, the tariff is aimed at foreign exporters, but in reality, the first wave of impact falls on the American mainland—corporate profits are eroded, market confidence is undermined, some companies cut investment and delay hiring; consumers will eventually have to bear the cost of this policy.

From 1933 to 2025, the United States once again stands at a historical high point of high tariffs. Only this time, the ones paying the bill are American companies and consumers.

When this tariff list is fully implemented, the bill will return to the lives of every American family in a more intuitive way.