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Trump sent letters to 14 countries on Monday, including Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh, announcing more tariffs on their imports.
US President Donald Trump. (Reuters Image)
US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was “not 100% firm” on his new August 1 deadline to impose reciprocal tariffs, or reach trade deals, after he threatened 14 countries with additional tariffs on their imports.
Trump sent letters to 14 countries on Monday, including Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh, announcing more levies on their goods, causing fresh uncertainty in the global economy.
However, the US President signalled that he would be flexible with his tariff deadline to leave room for countries to negotiate. “I would say firm, but not 100 percent firm,” he told reporters when asked if the deadline was firm.
“If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that. But essentially that’s the way it is right now,” he said in the presence of visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also said the tariff letters sent to different countries are “more or less final offers”, adding that the US wanted fairness and had taken in over $100 billion worth of tariffs already.
“We’ve made a deal with United Kingdom, we’ve made a deal with China. We’re close to making a deal with India. Others we’ve met with, and we don’t think we’re going to be able to make a deal. So we just send them a letter. If you want to play ball, this is what you have to pay,” he said.
Trump added, “As far as I’m concerned, we’re done with sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay. Some will maybe adjust a little bit, depending if they have a you know, cause. But we’re not going to be unfair about it.”
ALSO READ: ‘If You Decide To…’: Bangladesh, 13 Others Slapped With Trump Tariff Letters | Full List
Which Countries Received Trump’s Letters?
Following up on his promise to send letters to the countries for tariffs or deal with the US, Trump rolled out letters to 14 countries, including its key allies in Asia — Japan and South Korea — slapping 25% tariff on each.
Malaysia and Kazakhstan were slapped with a 25% tariff each on their exports to the US, while South Africa faced a 30% tariff. The US President further imposed as high as 40% tariffs on goods from Myanmar and Laos.
Thailand, Cambodia, Serbia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were slapped with additional tariffs ranging from 30-36%. Trump warned against any retaliatory tariffs, threatening reciprocation from the US.
The US president had unveiled sweeping tariffs on imports on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2, including a baseline 10% tariff on all countries. However, he quickly suspended all tariffs above 10% for 90 days following turmoil in the markets.
The reciprocal tariffs were set to kick in by July 9 but were delayed to August 1 to allow countries to negotiate. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that there would be more deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
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