washington, july 4
The US administration will start sending letters informing trading partners of their tariff rates as soon as Friday, as negotiations to avoid higher US levies enter the final stretch, President Donald Trump said.
He added that 10-12 countries will get letters on Friday and will range in value from 60-70 per cent and 10-20 per cent, and countries will have to start paying tariffs from August 1, said Trump.
“They’ll be fully covered and they’ll range in value from maybe 60 or 70 per cent tariffs to 10 and 20 per cent tariffs,” he said.
Speaking to the reporters, the US President said that about “10 or 12” letters would go out Friday, with additional letters coming “over the next few days.”
Referring to a July 9 deadline he initially set for countries to reach deals with the US to avoid higher import duties, he has threatened, Trump said, “I think by the ninth they’ll be fully covered.”
Notably, Trump didn’t elaborate which countries would get the tariffs or whether that meant certain goods would be taxed at a higher rate than others. He said that countries would “start to pay on August 1, and the money will start going to come into the United States on August 1.” On Tuesday, US President had confirmed that a trade deal between the US and India, with “much less tariffs” will soon be announced. “I think we are going to have a deal with India. And that is going to be a different kind of a deal. It is going to be a deal where we are able to go in and compete. Right now, India does not accept anybody in. I think India is going to do that, and if they do that, we are going to have a deal for much less tariffs,” Donald Trump said.
Both countries face the looming return of suspended 26 per cent reciprocal tariffs. Imposed on April 2, it was paused for 90 days, and without another agreement, it will likely automatically resume.
