Trump to 'start sending tariff letters on Monday'

RTHK

2 days ago

Trump to 'start sending tariff letters on Monday'
Donald Trump is said to be sending letters to 100 smaller countries, notifying them of possible higher tariffs in August. File photo: Reuters
The United States is close to finalizing several trade pacts in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by July 9, President Donald Trump has said, with the higher rates set to take effect on August 1.
Since taking office, Trump has set off a global trade war that has roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies, through efforts such as deals with the United States and other countries.
In April Trump unveiled a base tariff rate of 10 percent on most countries and additional duties of up to 50 percent, but later gave a three-week reprieve until Wednesday for all but 10 percent of them.
Trump, whose remarks to reporters on Sunday came just before his return to Washington from a weekend golfing in New Jersey, had flagged the August 1 date earlier, but it was unclear if all tariffs would increase then.
Asked to clarify, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the higher tariffs would take effect on August 1, but Trump was "setting the rates and the deals right now."
In a posting on his Truth Social website, Trump later said the United States would start delivering tariff letters from 12pm Eastern Time, or midnight Hong Kong time, on Monday.
In a separate post, he rolled out a wholly new tariff policy, calling for countries "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies" of the Brics developing nations to be charged an extra 10 percent tariff, with no exceptions to be granted.
The first BRICS summit in 2009 was attended by leaders from Brazil, China, India and Russia, with South Africa joining later while Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were included last year.
Trump has close ties to leaders of some of those countries, such as Saudi Arabia and UAE, and has been touting the prospect of a trade deal with India for weeks.
On Sunday, Brics leaders condemned attacks on Gaza and Iran, called for reforms to global institutions and warned that the rise in tariffs threatened global trade.
It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariff threat would derail trade talks with India, Indonesia and other Brics nations, however.
Earlier on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN's "State of the Union" that several big trade agreements would be announced in the next days, adding that European Union talks had made good progress.
Trump would also send letters to 100 smaller countries with which the United States does not have much trade, notifying them of higher tariff rates, he added.
"President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level," Bessent said.
"So I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly." (Reuters)