Trump says he’ll start sending out tariff rate letters ‘probably tomorrow’
The US president says he expects to sign ‘a couple of other deals’ on top of the agreement with Vietnam
US President Donald Trump said that his administration may begin sending out letters to trading partners as soon as Friday setting unilateral tariff rates ahead of a July 9 deadline for negotiations.
“We’re probably going to be sending some letters out, starting probably tomorrow, maybe 10 a day to various countries saying what they’re going to pay to do business with the US,” Trump told reporters on Thursday as he left Washington for an event in Iowa.
Trump has long threatened that if countries fail to reach deals with the US before next week’s deadline, he would simply impose rates on them, raising the stakes for trading partners who have rushed to secure agreements with his administration.
The US president initially announced his higher so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2, but paused those for 90 days to allow countries time to negotiate, putting in place a 10 per cent rate during that interval.
So far, the Trump administration has announced deals with the UK and Vietnam and agreed to a truce with China that saw the world’s two largest economies ease tit-for-tat tariffs.
Asked on Thursday if more deals were on the way, Trump responded that “we have a couple of other deals, but you know, my inclination is to send a letter out and say what tariffs they are going to be paying”.
“It’s much easier,” he said.