Trump will send letters on tariffs starting Friday
US President Donald Trump announced that he intends to send letters to his country’s trading partners, starting Friday, informing them of the punitive tariffs that will take effect on August 1, as the deadline for negotiations on the issue approaches.
“I’m inclined to send a letter explaining what tariffs they’re going to have to pay… It’s much easier that way… We’ll send messages, perhaps tomorrow,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
Trump explaining that “10 or 12” letters will be sent on Friday, in addition to other messages “in the coming days”.
This statement comes days before the Republican president’s July 9 deadline to impose punitive tariffs of varying degrees on dozens of his country’s trading partners, from Taiwan to the European Union.
Regarding tariff rates, Trump explained that they could range from 60 or 70% to 10 or 20%.
He added that the tariffs would be imposed on the affected countries’ goods starting August 1.
In April, Trump shocked the world by announcing a significant increase in tariffs on all of his country’s trading partners.
These tariffs ranged from a minimum of 10% to 50% for countries that export more to the United States than they import from it.
But Trump soon suspended the implementation of these tariffs and opened the door to trade negotiations with each country individually.
US officials have indicated the possibility of announcing a series of trade agreements in the coming days.
So far, the Trump administration has only announced two agreements with Britain and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing have agreed to temporarily reduce tariffs between them.
