CNN
 — 

President Donald Trump cranked up the pressure Monday on America’s trading partners, firing off letters to heads of several countries, informing them of their new tariff rate. But at the same time, Trump took some of the edge off by signing an executive action Monday to extend the date for all “reciprocal” tariffs, with the exception of China, to August 1.

Those “reciprocal” tariffs were expected to go into effect Wednesday. In some cases, the letters Trump sent specify new “reciprocal” tariff rates that are higher or lower compared to April levels.

Trump was not definitive when asked if the new August 1 deadline was “firm” ahead of a dinner at the White House on Monday night. “I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung were the first recipients of Trump’s letters.

Both countries will face a 25% tariff come August 1, according to the letters, but both nations said on Tuesday they plan to engage in further talks with the US, with Japan saying it was working towards a trade deal.

Trump announced similar letters were sent to Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Myanmar and Laos, informing their leaders of new tariff rates as high as 40%.

Then later in the day, he posted seven new letters sent to leaders of Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (which is set to reach a 30% tariff), Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand, putting the running total at 14 letters delivered on Monday.

In the letters, Trump said he takes particular issue with the trade deficits the United States runs with them, meaning America buys more goods from there compared to the amount that American businesses export to those countries. Trump also said the tariffs would be set in response to other policies that he deems are impeding American goods from being sold abroad.

He encouraged country leaders to manufacture goods in the United States to avoid tariffs.

This comes ahead of his initial 12:01 a.m. ET July 9 deadline for countries to make deals or face the threat of higher tariffs. That date marks the end of the pause on “reciprocal” tariffs, which briefly went into place in April. Since then, impacted countries have faced a minimum 10% tariff.

In all 14 letters, Trump threatened to raise tariffs even higher than the specified rates if a country retaliated against the United States with tariffs of their own. Trump said these rates would be “separate from all Sectoral Tariffs,” meaning, for instance, the new tariff won’t be stacked on top of the current auto tariff of 25%, the White House confirmed. That would apply to any future sector-specific tariffs, too, a White House official said.

Despite the many trade qualms Trump has broadcast as having with the European Union, prompting him to threaten higher tariffs on several occasions, the trading bloc appears to have not received a letter from him.

“We’re not going to comment on letters that we haven’t received,” Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesperson, told reporters Monday afternoon.

“My understanding is that we can now expect an extension of the current status quo until August 1 to give further time for the EU and the US to reach an agreement in principle on a mutually beneficial agreement that works for both sides,” Simon Harris, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in a statement on Monday.

Collectively, the US bought $465 billion worth of goods last year from the 14 countries that received letters on Monday, according to US Commerce Department figures. Japan and South Korea, America’s sixth- and seventh-largest trading partners, accounted for 60% of that, shipping a total of $280 billion worth of goods to the US last year.

The prospect of higher tariffs on goods could translate into higher prices for American consumers. Among the top goods America imports from South Korea and Japan, for example, are cars, auto parts, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and machinery. Trump has placed or threatened to levy industry-specific tariffs on many of these goods.

In April, Japan was set to face a 24% tariff, while South Korea was set to face a 25% tariff. Now, both face the same 25% rate.

Japan’s Ishiba, convened a cabinet task force on Tuesday after receiving the letter and voiced Tokyo’s deep “regret that the U.S. government has imposed additional tariffs and announced plans to raise tariff rates.” He said the country would continue negotiations with the United States to seek a bilateral trade deal that benefits both countries.

South Korea’s Finance Ministry said in a statement that it would monitor developments closely, but warned that if market fluctuations become “excessive” the government would “take immediate and bold action in accordance with its contingency plans,” though it did not immediately detail what that action may entail.

While the other countries ship less to the US compared to Japan and South Korea, in many cases they are among the top foreign sources of goods.

For instance, South Africa, which is set to face 30% tariffs, accounted for roughly half of the platinum the US imported from other countries last year and was the top foreign supplier of it.

Malaysia, which is set to face a 24% tariff versus the 25% rate Trump announced in April, was the second-top source of semiconductors shipped to the US last year, with Americans purchasing $18 billion worth of them from there.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia are top manufacturing hubs for apparel and accessories.

Trump’s letter to Cambodia’s prime minister threatened a tariff rate of 36%, 13 percentage points lower than what had been in place in April, before it was paused.

Stocks dropped lower midday after Trump announced the first batch of letters and continued to fall as Trump announced tariffs of varying rates from 25% to 40% on countries including Myanmar, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Laos and South Africa.

Despite Trump saying country-specific tariffs won’t be stacked on top of sectorial ones, shares of auto companies that have a heavy manufacturing presence in Japan and South Korea declined sharply. US-listed shares in major Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda dropped by 4%, 7.16% and 3.86%, respectively.

Those declines, however, may reflect the increased likelihood of Trump potentially raising tariffs on cars from the two countries should they retaliate against the general 25% tariffs, were they to go into effect, by slapping higher tariffs on American goods.

“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship,” Trump ended the letters before signing off.

The Dow closed lower by 422 points, or 0.94%. The S&P 500 fell 0.79% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92%. The three major indexes posted their worst day in about three weeks. Meanwhile, stocks in Asia started Tuesday trading flat.

CNN
 — 

President Donald Trump said Monday he plans to send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine after his administration paused certain shipments last week.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to – they have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said ahead of a dinner with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.

“They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons,” Trump added. “Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.”

The president’s latest remarks come after a senior White House official told CNN last week the Trump administration was pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including air defense missiles. The decision came after a review of military spending and American support to foreign countries that was signed off by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said at the time that the decision was made “to put America’s interests first.”

Some US officials insinuated the review of aid to Ukraine was related in part to the Pentagon’s push to focus on China and be prepared for potential future conflict in the Pacific – an issue prioritized by the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby.

“The Department of Defense continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end. At the same time, the Department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving US forces’ readiness for Administration defense priorities,” Colby said in a statement at the time of the pause.

Russia welcomed the halt in certain shipments to Ukraine, claiming – without providing any evidence – it was made because the US did not have enough weapons.

“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense will send additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Monday. “Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities.”

The US has been the biggest single donor of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, supplying Ukraine with air defense systems, drones, rocket launchers, radars, tanks and anti-armor weapons, leading to concerns over dwindling US stockpiles.

Trump previously halted all shipments of military aid to Ukraine in March following a heated Oval Office argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump resumed aid flows to Ukraine about a week later.

The decision to send additional weapons also comes after Trump spoke separately last week with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky. He said afterward his talk with Putin was disappointing and there was “no progress” towards a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Zelensky in recent weeks has been pleading with Western allies to bolster his nation’s aerial defenses after intensifying Russian airborne attacks. Russia launched a record number of drones at Ukraine overnight on Friday, just hours after the Trump-Putin phone call.

Trump later Friday said the US was considering Ukraine’s request for more Patriot defense systems after a “very good” phone call with Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said on Saturday that latest conversation with Trump was the best and “most productive” he has had.

Trump on Monday reaffirmed his displeasure with the Russian leader, saying: “I’m not happy with President Putin at all.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.

Fireworks are the suspected cause of a brush fire that ignited in a hilly area of Laguna Beach on Monday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders for a few hundred homes, officials said.

The Rancho fire started around 2:15 p.m. near Rancho Laguna Road and Morningside Drive, according to the Laguna Beach Fire Department. Fire crews halted forward progress of the blaze at 5 p.m., at which time the fire was estimated to be four to five acres, according to department spokesperson Chip Gilmore.

Fire officials are continuing to investigate the blaze, including whether fireworks are at the root of its ignition, Laguna Beach Mayor Alex Rounaghi told The Times. No one is in custody at this time, he said.

Evacuation orders were issued for La Mirada Street, Katella Street, Summit Drive and Baja Street, and a temporary evacuation center was opened at the Community and Susi Q Center, at 380 3rd St.

With danger from the fire ebbing, evacuation orders were lifted Monday evening. Gilmore said crews would remain at the scene overnight defending properties from potential flare-ups and bolstering containment lines.

Southern California Edison, which shut off power to nearby homes when the fire began, anticipated restoring service by 9:30 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Laguna Beach Fire Chief Niko King said that four firefighting helicopters, one firefighting aircraft and multiple ground crews were deployed to combat the three-acre fire.

“We think we’ve made the right kind of progress so far. We’re not out of the woods yet, but we think we got a good handle on it,” City Manager Dave Kiff told The Times around 4:30 p.m.

Rounaghi said it appeared that no homes had been damaged thus far but urged residents to continue to heed evacuation orders.

The rush to evacuate the area led to major roads across Laguna Beach being clogged with traffic. A stretch of South Coast Highway between Broadway Street and Crown Valley Parkway was closed because of the fire. Traffic heading south was being diverted to Laguna Canyon Road, according to the city.

Kiff attributed the early success of firefighting efforts to the rapid response of mutual aid partners such as the Orange County Fire Authority and to wildfire safety improvements implemented by the city.

The Fire Department had recently thinned vegetation in the area where the fire ignited in an effort to limit the amount of available fuel for a potential wildfire, Rounaghi said. This proactive thinning is regularly completed in the city’s designated fuel modification zones.

In addition, the city has installed a special water tank in the hills where the Rancho fire is burning, Kiff said. The tank is connected to a high-pressure water line so that it can be refilled rapidly, thereby increasing the rate at which firefighting aircraft can perform water drops.

Over the last several years, the city has spent more than $25 million enacting a fire mitigation plan approved in 2019, Rounaghi said. The city recently updated that plan in the wake of the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires and is working on additional fire safety improvements.

“We know it’s not a question of if but when the next wildfire happens, and certainly today is a perfect example of that,” Rounaghi said. “So we go above and beyond in terms of preparedness.”

The Rancho fire is the latest in a series of blazes believed to be connected to fireworks.

Seven workers were killed after a fireworks warehouse exploded last week in Esparto, a rural area 30 miles northwest of Sacramento.

On Thursday, one person was killed and multiple people injured in a fireworks-related fire that engulfed four homes in Pacoima, and another person was killed in a fireworks explosion at a Simi Valley home.