President Trump is pushing through with his tariff agenda, unveiling a new batch of letters to country leaders outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries beginning in August and a warning to BRICS nations.

Senior EU officials told the Financial Times that they did not expect Trump to ultimately go through with his new threat of 30 per cent tariffs, which is being widely interpreted by Brussels as a bid by the US president to increase pressure on the bloc in the remaining time left for negotiations.