United States trade partners such as Switzerland, Brazil and India were still scrambling to get a better deal on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s higher tariff rates on imports from dozens of countries kicked in, raising the average US import duty to its highest in a century.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency began collecting the higher tariffs of 10 per cent to 50pc at 12:01am EDT (09:01am PKT) after weeks of suspense over Trump’s final tariff rates and frantic negotiations with major trading partners that sought to lower them.

The leaders of Brazil and India vowed not to be cowed by Trump’s hardline bargaining position, even while their negotiators sought a reprieve from the highest tariff levels.

The new rates will test Trump’s strategy for shrinking US trade deficits without causing massive disruptions to global supply chains or provoking higher inflation and stiff retaliation from trading partners.

After unveiling his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, Trump has frequently modified his plan, slapping much higher rates on imports from some countries, including 50pc for goods from Brazil, 39pc from Switzerland, 35pc from Canada and 25pc from India.

He announced on Wednesday a separate, 25pc tariff on Indian goods, to be imposed in 21 days, over India’s purchases of

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