US President Donald Trump To Send Letters To Countries Stating Tariff Rates

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that his administration would start sending letters to countries, on Friday, July 4, to identify the tariff rates they would face on imports to the United States. 

Acknowledging the complexity of negotiating with over 170 nations, Trump told reporters before departing for Iowa on Thursday that the letters will be sent to 10 countries at a time, laying out tariff rates such as 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

“We have more than 170 countries, and how many deals can you make? They're very much more complicated.” Trump said.

He further added that before his departure, he expected to sign "a couple of other deals" in addition to a trade agreement announced on Wednesday with Vietnam.

However, he stated that his preference was to notify most of the countries with letters, stating clearly what tariff rate they faced. His comments came ahead of steeper duties which were set to take effect on dozens of economies, customised to each of them, ranging from Taiwan to the European Union.

These tariffs were part of a broader announcement in April where Mr. Trump imposed a 10% duty on goods from almost all trading partners, with a plan to step up these rates for a select group within days.

Many countries with an initial 10 per cent duty rate have not had any negotiations with the Trump administration.

However, he swiftly paused the tariff hikes until July 9 to allow time for trade negotiations. Several countries have been pushing to secure agreements that would exempt them from the elevated duties. 

U.S. officials have indicated that a wave of trade deals may be announced in the coming days.

So far, the Trump administration has only finalised agreements with the U.K. and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Washington and Beijing have agreed to temporarily ease the steep tariffs imposed on each other’s goods.

As the July deadline nears, Trump has repeatedly stated that he intends to notify countries of U.S. tariff rates through formal letters.

(With Inputs from Reuters.)