Volkswagen reported a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.5-billion) first-half hit from tariffs and cut its full-year sales and profit margin forecasts in the German carmaker's first assessment of the damage from U.

The German automaker said it expects challenges due to political uncertainty, expanding trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions.

The German automaker said that the U.S. import duties erased about $1.5 billion from its profit in the first half of the year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is unlikely to follow through on his threat to place 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil because it would worsen politically-damaging inflation pressures and his similar threat against buyers of Venezuelan oil has had limited success, especially in China.

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose a new 50% tariff on all Brazilian products from Aug. 1 could devastate the South American nation's citrus belt, as factories scale back production and orange farmers consider leaving fruit to rot amid a sharp drop in prices.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that new trade duties will have a minimum rate of 15%, with the possibility of reaching 50%, and suggested that Brazil will be the only country subjected to the maximum rate among those that received letters in the past few weeks.

The European Union is currently negotiating a deal in which its products imported into the U.S. are tariffed at a 15% rate. That would be well below the 30% rate President Donald Trump announced earlier this month in a letter to the 27-member bloc.

The Philippines will aim to bring down the tariff imposed by the US on Philippine exports to 15% from 19%, Manila’s envoy to Washington said, as the Aug. 1 deadline set by President Donald Trump nears.

The new rate is higher than what Trump had threatened when he first unveiled sweeping global tariffs in April.