Trump says again he’ll set unilateral tariffs in 2 weeks

US President Donald Trump said he intended to send letters to trading partners in the next one to two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates, ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on dozens of economies.

“We’re going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington where he was attending a performance.

“At a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it,” he added.

It was unclear if Trump would follow through with his pledge. The president has often set two-week deadlines for actions, only for them to come later or not at all. The president on May 16 said he would be setting tariff rates for US trading partners “over the next two to three weeks”.

Trump in April announced higher tariffs on dozens of trading partners only to pause them for 90 days as markets swooned and investors feared the levies would spark a global downturn. Yet despite the ongoing negotiations, the only trade framework the US has reached is with the UK, along with a tariff truce with China.