Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000 after the Trump administration announced tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners covering more than 99% of U.S. trade.
Summary
- Bitcoin fell below $65,000 after Trump announced new tariffs covering 60 major trading partners.
- Strong U.S. jobless claims data and rising Treasury yields added pressure on risk assets.
- Crypto liquidations reached about $162 million as leveraged long traders absorbed most of the losses.
CNBC reported that the duties will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, replacing the temporary 10% global tariff scheduled to expire the same day. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has linked the measures to what it described as inadequate enforcement against goods made with forced labor.
Bitcoin traded as low as $64,985 on Thursday, July 23, before briefly recovering above $65,000. crypto.news data showed the asset down about 1.5% over 24 hours, with its market capitalization standing near $1.3 trillion.
Selling resumed after details of the tariff plan emerged, leaving the rebound above $65,000 short-lived. Short-interval charts showed consecutive bearish candles during the decline, while CoinGlass recorded rising liquidations of leveraged long positions as traders faced another risk-off development.
The tariff announcement arrived during a difficult session for risk assets. The Nasdaq Composite fell about 2.2% to a four-week low, while the S&P 500 lost 1.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 507 points.
Escalating tensions between the United States and Iran had already pressured Bitcoin earlier in the day. Al Jazeera reported that President Donald Trump had threatened an unprecedented “massive attack” on Iran as military exchanges continued across the region.
Strong labor data has added pressure on Bitcoin
Fresh U.S. employment data gave traders another reason to reassess interest-rate expectations. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 to 187,000 in the week ending July 18, the lowest total since September 1969.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected claims to rise to 212,000. Continuing claims also fell by 2,000 to 1.796 million, according to the department, showing that layoffs remained limited despite slower hiring and uncertainty surrounding trade policy.
Stronger labor figures can reduce the urgency for the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy because they suggest that the economy can withstand restrictive borrowing costs. Interest-rate futures indicated that traders were considering the possibility of a Fed rate increase by September, Reuters reported, as higher oil prices added to inflation concerns.
Treasury yields climbed alongside those expectations, with the 10-year yield reaching about 4.70%, according to Investors Business Daily. Higher bond yields can weigh on cryptocurrencies because they raise the return available from traditional assets that carry less risk than Bitcoin.
Leveraged traders took most of the immediate damage from the decline. CoinGlass data showed that 62,869 crypto traders were liquidated over 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching about $162 million. Separate Coinalyze figures placed Bitcoin liquidations near $28.7 million, including roughly $26.2 million in long positions.
Bitcoin’s fall followed a brief advance toward $67,000 earlier in the week. BTC was approaching a seven-week high on July 21 despite the conflict with Iran and the pending tariff decision, but buyers failed to maintain that move as macroeconomic pressure intensified.
New tariffs have rebuilt Trump’s trade barrier
The administration has imposed the tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows Washington to respond to trade practices it considers unfair. The legal route differs from the emergency powers used for an earlier set of tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down in February.
A senior administration official described the measures as the most extensive international labor-rights trade action ever taken by any country. According to the administration, the rates depend on how much progress each trading partner has made in restricting imports produced with forced labor.
Countries and territories that have introduced partial restrictions or made related commitments will face a 10% rate. USTR documents show that the group includes Canada, Mexico, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Argentina and several Southeast Asian and Latin American economies.
A 12.5% tariff will apply to partners that the USTR determined had made less progress, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has argued that weak enforcement abroad forces American workers to compete against goods linked to abusive labor practices.
Several major product groups will remain outside the new duties. Reuters reported that the exemptions include crude oil, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, rare-earth materials, aircraft parts and some foods, while goods already covered by Section 232 tariffs will not face an additional charge.
Canadian and Mexican products that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will also be exempt. Administration officials said the new steel and aluminum duties would not stack on top of existing national-security tariffs.
The USTR has not published an estimate of how much revenue the tariff package will produce, according to CNBC. Trading partners can potentially secure lower rates by strengthening their forced-labor import rules, although officials said no country currently enforces a complete prohibition.
For Bitcoin, the announcement has added trade uncertainty to a session already shaped by geopolitical tension, rising oil prices, stronger labor data and higher Treasury yields. CoinGecko data placed BTC close to $65,000 at the time of reporting, leaving the level as the immediate test for buyers after the latest decline.
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