Trump says tariff pause ends July 9, countries could face up to 50% duties

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2 days ago

At a White House news conference on Friday, Trump had downplayed the significance of the July 9 deadline, acknowledging the complexity of negotiating separate agreements with each country read more
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, on April 2, 2025, in Washington. File image/ AP
President Donald Trump has indicated that he does not plan to extend the 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries beyond July 9, the end of the negotiating period he previously announced. The administration is preparing to notify countries that trade penalties will be implemented unless agreements are reached with the United States.
Trump stated that letters would be sent out 'pretty soon' ahead of the upcoming deadline.
'We'll look at how a country treats us — are they good, are they not so good — some countries we don't care, we'll just send a high number out,' he said during an interview with Fox News Channel's 'Sunday Morning Futures,' which was recorded Friday and aired Sunday.
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According to Trump, the letters will inform recipients: 'Congratulations, we're allowing you to shop in the United States of America, you're going to pay a 25% tariff, or a 35% or a 50% or 10%.'
At a White House news conference on Friday, Trump had downplayed the significance of the July 9 deadline, acknowledging the complexity of negotiating separate agreements with each country. The administration initially aimed to finalize 90 trade agreements within 90 days.
Negotiations are ongoing, Trump said in the interview, but added, 'there's 200 countries, you can't talk to all of them.'
He also touched on several other topics during the interview, including a possible deal involving TikTok, U.S.-China relations, recent military actions involving Iran, and domestic immigration policy.
Here are the key takeaways:
Few details on possible TikTok deal
A group of wealthy investors will make an offer to buy TikTok, Trump said, hinting at a deal that could safeguard the future of the popular social media platform, which is owned by China's ByteDance.
'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I'll need, probably, China approval, and I think President Xi (Jinping) will probably do it,' Trump said.
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Trump did not offer any details about the investors, calling them 'a group of very wealthy people.'
'I'll tell you in about two weeks,' he said when asked for specifics.
It's a time frame Trump often cites, most recently about a decision on whether the U.S. military would get directly involved in the war between Israel and Iran. The U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites just days later.
Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for 90 more days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.
It is the third time Trump extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court — took effect.
Trump insists US 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities
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U.S. strikes on Iran 'obliterated' its nuclear facilities, Trump insisted, and he said whoever leaked a preliminary intelligence assessment suggesting Tehran's nuclear program had been set back only a few months should be prosecuted.
Trump said Iran was 'weeks away' from achieving a nuclear weapon before he ordered the strikes.
'It was obliterated like nobody's ever seen before,' Trump said. 'And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.'
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday on X that Trump 'exaggerated to cover up and conceal the truth.' Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, told CBS' 'Face the Nation' that his country's nuclear program is peaceful and that uranium 'enrichment is our right, and an inalienable right and we want to implement this right' under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. 'I think that enrichment will not — never stop.'
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CBS that 'it is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage."
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Grossi also said the U.N. nuclear watchdog has faced pressure to report that Iran had a nuclear weapon or was close to one, but 'we simply didn't because this was not what we were seeing.'
Of the leak of the intelligence assessment, Trump said anyone found to be responsible should be prosecuted. Journalists who received it should be asked who their source was, he said: 'You have to do that and I suspect we'll be doing things like that.'
His press secretary said Thursday that the administration is investigating the matter.
A 'temporary pass' for immigration raids on farms and hotels?
As he played up his immigration crackdown, Trump offered a more nuanced view when it comes to farm and hotel workers.
'I'm the strongest immigration guy that there's ever been, but I'm also the strongest farmer guy that there's ever been,' the Republican president said.
He noted that he wants to deport criminals, but it's a problem when farmers lose their laborers and it destroys their businesses.
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Trump said his administration is working on 'some kind of a temporary pass' that could give farmers and hotel owners control over immigration raids at their facilities.
Earlier this month, Trump had called for a pause on immigration raids disrupting the farming, hotel and restaurant industries, but a top Homeland Security official followed up with a seemingly contradictory statement. Tricia McLaughlin said there would be 'no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine' immigration enforcement efforts.
Status of China trade talks
Trump praised a recent trade deal with Beijing over rare earth exports from China and said establishing a fairer relationship will require significant tariffs.
'I think getting along well with China is a very good thing,' Trump said. 'China's going to be paying a lot of tariffs, but we have a big (trade) deficit, they understand that."
Trump said he would be open to removing sanctions on Iranian oil shipments to China if Iran can show 'they can be peaceful and if they can show us they're not going to do any more harm.'
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But the president also indicated the U.S. isn't afraid to retaliate against Beijing. When Fox News Channel host Maria Bartiromo noted that China has tried to hack U.S. systems and steal intellectual property, Trump replied, 'You don't think we do that to them?'