President Donald Trump announced on Monday (7) his first measures against countries that did not negotiate trade agreements with the United States. The first affected are two American allies, Japan and South Korea, which will face new 25% tariffs on exports from August 1st.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Socialwhere he exposed letters sent to both nations. “Please understand that the 25% number is much lower than necessary to eliminate the disparity of the commercial deficit we have with your country,” says an excerpt from the document.
The Republican leader added that tariffs could be avoided if both countries began to manufacture products within the United States. “There will be no tariff if South Korea or Japan or companies in their countries decide to build or manufacture products in the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professional and routinely – in other words, in a matter of weeks.”
On the 2nd, the president had already anticipated that Japan could be charged 30% to 35%, describing the Asian country as “spoiled” at the time.
Hours later, Trump announced more aggressive measures against a series of countries, with up to 40% charges on products entering the United States. The affected are Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Myanmar and Laos.
Last week, the US president also anticipated that he would start sending letters to nations that did not sign agreements with the United States as a pressure.
Trump gave a deadline until next Wednesday (9) for countries to finalize their proposals, however US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday (6) that all taxes announced in April will take effect on August 1, information that should be confirmed later this afternoon, according to Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary.
She also reported that the president would send letters to “approximately 12 other countries” about the tariffs they will face if they did not negotiate business agreements with the United States until the new deadline.
In an interview with CNBCOn Monday, Bessent added that the White House will make several ads about its business partners in the next 48 hours. “President Trump will send letters to some of our business partners indicating that if they do not advance, they will return to the tariff level of April 2 on August 1,” said the Treasury Secretary.
