US President Donald Trump has unveiled letters that threaten to impose higher tariff rates on key trading partners, including levies of 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea beginning Aug. 1.

Trump also announced 25% rates on Malaysia and Kazakhstan, while South Africa would see a 30% tariff and Laos and Myanmar would face a 40% levy. The nations were the first in what the president promised would be a flurry of unilateral warnings and trade deals announced Monday, two days before agreements are due from trading partners facing his April 2 so-called reciprocal levies. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said around a dozen countries would receive notifications on Monday, and that additional letters will come shortly.

Many of the tariff rates were largely in line with what Trump had already announced nations were likely to face. 

After a 90-day reprieve from his initial so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, Trump lowered those duties to 10% to allow time for negotiations. Few nations did so successfully in the short time given, though Trump’s latest move effectively offers another extension that pushes the looming July 9 deadline until at least the beginning of August.

Trump’s second-term rush to overhaul US trade policies has served as a steady source of uncertainty for markets, central bankers and executives trying to game out the effect on production, inventories, hiring, inflation and consumer demand — routine planning that’s hard enough without costs like tariffs that are on one day, off the next.

Stocks fell from all-time highs and the dollar climbed on Trump’s announcement. Read today’s Markets Wrap. —Jordan Parker Erb

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Officials confirmed the deaths of 27 campers and counselors who went missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp as cataclysmic floods tore through central Texas. Statewide, authorities counted more than 90 deaths and said the number was almost certain to climb as rescuers sorted through mounds of debris. Heavy rain continued in portions of the Hill Country on Monday, with the heaviest downpours producing 2 to 3 inches of rain per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The Hill Country region where most of the deaths occurred had been packed with vacationers, many of them families who flock to the region year after year to enjoy the rivers and streams that provide respite from the summer heat.

Search and recovery workers dig through debris near Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, on July 6. Photographer: Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Tesla shares fell after Elon Musk announced he’s forming a new political party, digging deeper into a pursuit that’s been a drag on his most valuable business. Musk announced over the weekend that he’ll take on Republicans and Democrats with the “America Party,” focusing on House and Senate seats for the next 12 months. After that, backing a candidate for president isn’t out of the question, Musk wrote on X. Tesla’s stock slid 6.8% shortly after the start of regular trading Monday. The shares already have declined 28% this year as the CEO’s politicking has hurt Tesla’s standing with car buyers.

Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus sales have declined, with Saks' sales falling 16% and Neiman Marcus' sales falling 10% in the quarter that ended in June. The $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus by Saks Fifth Avenue’s owner last year was supposed to create a luxury powerhouse. Instead, both department stores are losing customers and sales to competitors including Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom. Sales at each of the retailers have risen more than 10% during the same quarter, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.

Wall Street's traditional currency strategies are no longer working, leaving even experienced traders baffled. Before Trump’s policies sent the dollar plunging, investors could reliably use a number of indicators to figure out how to trade. Europe cuts interest rates? Sell euros. Markets look jittery? Buy dollars. But now, traders say, those signals are misfiring more frequently. As a result, traders are being cautious, running smaller and simpler trades, and questioning whether the past few months will be a short-lived adjustment or the start of a harder-to-navigate era.

CoreWeave is buying data-center operator Core Scientific in an effort to gain more direct control over the physical assets powering the artificial-intelligence boom. In buying Core Scientific in a $9 billion all-stock deal, CoreWeave will inherit more than a gigawatt of data-center capacity across the US — much of which is already contracted out to serve its clients in training, deploying and using AI models. CoreWeave said Monday that controlling more of its supply chain will eliminate lease expenses, reduce costs including those associated with financing projects.

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