Donald Trump Sets New Tariff Rates for 12 Countries

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International Desk: Amid the heat of the ongoing trade war, the pressure of the U.S.’s soaring tariffs is intensifying. With just four days left before the suspension period for additional import tariffs expires, the United States has already set new tariff rates for 12 countries. U.S. President Donald Trump has signed the related letters.

On Monday (July 7), it will be revealed which countries' goods will be subject to the new tariffs. Trump stated that the tariff rates specified in the letter must be accepted as they are.

On Saturday (July 5), while heading to New Jersey, Trump was asked about this by reporters on the plane. He responded, “I’ve signed some letters. They will be sent on Monday, probably to 12 countries. These letters contain proposals for imposing tariffs at different rates.”

Although Trump did not name the 12 designated countries, he hinted that the tariff rates could be increased by up to 70 percent. Most of the new rates will take effect from August 1.

Earlier this April, the U.S. president imposed additional tariffs on various countries around the world. According to him, many countries have imposed high tariffs on U.S. products, and therefore, these countries must face reciprocal tariffs when exporting goods to the U.S.

However, to allow room for negotiations, these additional tariffs were suspended for 90 days. That suspension period ends on July 9.

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Expressing frustration over the delay in trade deal negotiations, Trump said, “Sending the letters is better. Negotiations take a lot of time and are complicated.”

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Analysts believe that the U.S. has moved away from its earlier plan of conducting separate negotiations with many countries and is now effectively taking a one-sided approach by imposing tariffs unilaterally.

So far, the Trump administration has only been able to reach agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. The UK has maintained a 10 percent tariff and received special benefits in the automobile and aviation sectors. Under the deal with Vietnam, tariffs on their products were reduced from 46 percent to 20 percent.

On the other hand, the expected deal with India has yet to see the light of day. The European Union also announced on Friday that, due to a lack of progress in negotiations, it prefers to maintain the current tariff levels rather than increase them.