Donald Trump has targeted seven countries with new rates and defended tariffs in letters to global partners. Photo / AFP
Donald Trump has targeted seven countries with new rates and defended tariffs in letters to global partners. Photo / AFP
US President Donald Trump has set out new tariff rates for seven more countries, as Washington pushes to bring about a flurry of trade deals.
In letters addressed to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, Trump spelled out duties ranging from 20% to 30%that would take effect on August 1.
Similar to Trump’s first batch of documents published earlier this week, the levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some partners received notably lower rates this time.
Sri Lanka’s updated tariff was 30%, down from 44% announced in April, while the figure for Iraq was 30%, down from 39%.
The Philippines, however, saw a 20% levy, up from 17% announced previously.
While the President in April imposed a 10% levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled – and then withheld – higher rates for dozens of economies.
The deadline for those steeper levels to take effect was meant to be this week, before Trump postponed it further to August 1.
Instead, countries who face the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.
Trump said he decided on the levies based on “common sense” and trade deficits.
He added at an event that he would release more letters, including for Brazil, which does not currently face a tariff hike come August.
Trump’s latest messages were near-identical to those published earlier in the week, and justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal”.
They urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.
For now, more than 20 countries have received Trump’s letters including key US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand.
Donald Trump has threatened Indonesia, which exports coffee to the US, with higher tariffs. Photo / AFP
EU deal in ‘coming days’?
Analysts have noted that Asian countries have been a key target so far.
But all eyes are on the state of negotiations with major partners who have yet to receive such letters, including the European Union.
For now, the Trump administration is under pressure to unveil more trade pacts. So far, Washington has only reached agreements with Britain and Vietnam, alongside a deal to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China.
Earlier this week, Trump said his Government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate for the bloc.
“They’re very tough, but now they’re being very nice to us,” he added at a Cabinet meeting.
An EU spokesman said the bloc wants to strike a deal with the United States “in the coming days,” and has shown readiness to reach an agreement in principle.
EU diplomats say the European Commission, in charge of trade policy for the 27-country bloc, could continue talks until August 1.
The EU expects Trump to keep a 10% baseline tariff on its goods, with exemptions for critical sectors such as airplanes, spirits and cosmetics, diplomats told AFP this week.
Legal challenges to Trump’s sweeping tariffs are continuing to work their way through the US court system.
Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has also rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminium and autos since returning to the White House in January.
This week, Trump said levies were incoming on copper and pharmaceuticals.
The planned rate for copper is 50%, he added, while pharmaceutical products face a levy as high as 200% – but manufacturers would be given time to relocate operations.
