Latest news with #JapanSouthKorea
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump: August 1 tariff deadline ‘not 100% firm'
Politics Trump: August 1 tariff deadline 'not 100% firm' July 8, 2025 | 11:06 AM GMT President Donald Trump on July 7 threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and levies as high as 40 percent on 12 other countries, if they did not reach a deal by August 1.
South China Morning Post
08-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Asia faces tricky path to trade negotiations as Trump shifts goalposts on tariffs again
Asia could face a prolonged period of trade uncertainty after US President Donald Trump extended the deadline for imposing higher import tariffs to August 1. Trump told trade partners on Monday that the new deadline was final, though he might grant further extensions if countries submitted acceptable proposals. He also confirmed plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Japan and South Korea in letters posted on his social media platform, warning: 'If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25 per cent that we charge.' The announcement comes as a 90‑day suspension of some of Washington's most aggressive import duties is set to expire on Wednesday. A port under the Port Authority of Thailand in Bangkok on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has announced tariffs of 36 per cent on goods from Thailand starting on August 1. Photo: Reuters Trump first announced higher tariffs on US imports worldwide on April 2 – a date he has branded 'Liberation Day' – citing the need to reset America's trade imbalances. The measures were then suspended to allow time for negotiations, but the threat now appears to be returning in full force.
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Beschloss on Trump's Japan and South Korea Tariffs
President Donald Trump said he'll impose tariffs of 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea beginning Aug. 1, giving the two export powers a narrow three-week window to open their markets to American products and manufacture more in the US to avoid his unilateral levies. Rock Creek Group CEO & Founder Afsaneh Beschloss has more on the story. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump says 25% tariffs coming for Japan and South Korea as trade war escalates again
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he's imposing a 25% tariffs on goods from Japan and South Korea beginning on August 1 as the Republican continues his pressure campaign on longtime U.S. allies who have not yet entered into new trade agreements with his administration. Trump broke the news on July 7 via Truth Social, which is where he posted letters to the leaders of the two Asian economic powerhouses that warn of retaliatory and identical reciprocal increases "If for any reason you decide to raise your tariffs" on the United States. Other letters from Trump are expected to focus on smaller U.S. trading partners. As many as 100 could go out in total before July 9, when the president's pause on higher tariff rates is due to expire. The administration said the rates would take effect on August 1, if countries did not come to another arrangement with the United States before that time. The new date marks a delay by several weeks for the current deadline for the reciprocal tariffs to take effect. Trump unveiled his tariffs in early April, and then paused them after market turmoil. Last week, the president acknowledged a White House pledge was proving to be complicated that would see 90 different deals cut in 90 days with American's trading partners. The administration ultimately spent much of the time negotiating with large nations and countries with which it has the most substantial trade deficits. The president and his advisers were also focused on pushing through Congress the massive tax and spending bill Trump signed into law on July 4. Trump initially said he would put higher tariffs on a slew of nations on April 2 but paused them until 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 9 for most countries while his administration sought new trade deals. The so-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs rocked financial markets. They have since recovered, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq setting new records. Since then Trump has announced trade deals with Vietnam and the United Kingdom and a framework agreement with China. He left in place a baseline tariff of 10% on most other nations and also increased tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and introduced exemptions for some foreign-made car parts and automotives. He also threatend What to know on tariffs: Donald Trump pushes forward on tariffs despite court challenges The president said July 3 that because the process was easier he would soon begin sending out regular batches of tariff letters dictating rates to sell products in the United States, rather than negotiating scores of individual trade deals. 'How many deals can you make?' Trump told reporters. 'You can make more deals, but they're very much more complicated.' He added: 'It's just so many countries." Disputes remained with major trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, India and the European Union heading into this week, although Trump's Treasury secretary said new proposals were flooding in with less than 48 hours until the July deadline. As of early afternoon on July 7, the only letters Trump had published were directed at South Korea and Japan, which he hit with roughly the same reciprocal tariff rates as what had been announced before. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNN's "State of the Union" on July 6 that Trump would send out letters to 100 smaller countries with whom the U.S. doesn't have much trade, notifying them that they would face the tariff rate that Trump set in April and then suspended. "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. So I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly," Bessent told CNN. Bessent denied that August 1 was a new deadline for negotiations. "We are saying this is when it's happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice," he told CNN. Kevin Hassett, who heads the White House National Economic Council, in an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" offered some wiggle room for countries engaged in earnest negotiations. Contributing: Bart Jansen, Joey Garrison This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says 25% tariffs coming for Japan and South Korea
Khaleej Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Trump imposes 25% tariffs on allies Japan, South Korea
US President Donald Trump said Monday he was slapping 25 per cent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, in his first letters to trading partners ahead of a deadline to reach a deal with Washington. Trump had said at the weekend that starting from Monday he would send a first batch of up to 15 letters to countries informing them that he would reimpose harsh levies that he had postponed in April. In near-identically worded letters to the Japanese and South Korean leaders, Trump said the tariffs would apply from August 1 because their trading relationships with Washington were "unfortunately, far from reciprocal." Trump warned the countries, both key US allies in East Asia, of an escalation if they responded to the new US tariffs. But he also said he was ready to modify levies "downwards" if Japan and South Korea changed their trade policies. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that he "won't easily compromise" in trade talks with Washington. Trump originally announced sweeping tariffs on world economies on what he called "Liberation Day" on April 2, claiming the United States was being "ripped off." Amid market turmoil, Trump then suspended the initial tariffs for 90 days, a deadline that expires on Wednesday. But the Trump administration has said that the duties will not "boomerang" back until August 1, apparently extending the deadline despite denials from officials. While the Trump administration has signalled hopes of striking dozens of deals by early July, at one point boasting of "90 deals in 90 days", there have been limited results so far. Washington has unveiled pacts with only Britain and Vietnam, while the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower tariff levels on each other's products that earlier reached three-digits. 'Change their tune' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there would be a number of deals coming up. "We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours," Bessent told CNBC in an interview Monday. "We've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," Bessent said. There was no immediate response from the White House on whether Trump would formally extend the Wednesday deadline for the tariffs to snap back. Asked about Trump's letters, Bessent said these would inform partners of the tariff rate their products face when trading with the United States, unless they want to "come back and try to negotiate." Bessent told CNBC Monday that he would "be meeting with my Chinese counterpart sometime in the next couple of weeks." The two sides have so far held high-level talks in Geneva and London. But Washington and Beijing's pause on tit-for-tat tariffs is due to expire in mid-August. On whether he was disappointed in the number of trade deals achieved so far, Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro maintained that he is "happy with the progress we've had." "Every country that we run a major deficit with is fully engaged," he told CNBC on Monday. Trump has also threatened another 10 per cent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of "Anti-American policies" after they slammed his duties at a summit. For now, partners are still rushing to avert Trump's tariffs altogether. The European Commission said that EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had a "good exchange" with Trump on trade when the pair spoke Sunday.
