Trump issued similar letters to a dozen other trading partners including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia, saying he would slap duties on their products ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent.
But their starting date of August 1 marks a delay in Trump’s reimposition of steeper levies, originally due to take effect on Wednesday.
In near-identically worded letters to Japanese and South Korean leaders, Trump said the tariff hikes came as their trading relationships with Washington were “unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”
He warned of further escalation if countries retaliated against these duties.
Currently, the affected partners have been hit with a 10 percent levy Trump imposed on almost all trading partners.
But the president said he was ready to lower the new levels if others changed their trade policies: “We will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter.”
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.
South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks with the United States and considers the new tariff plan as effectively extending a grace period on implementing reciprocal tariffs.
“We will step up negotiations during the remaining period to reach a mutually beneficial result to quickly resolve the uncertainties from tariffs,” South Korea’s Industry Ministry said in a statement.
According to letters posted to Trump’s Truth Social platform, products from Indonesia will face a 32 percent tariff, while the level for Bangladesh is 35 percent and Thailand, 36 percent.
The higher tariffs take effect on August 1, and notably will not combine with previously announced sector tariffs such as those on automobiles and steel and aluminum. That means, for instance, that Japanese vehicle tariffs will remain at 25 percent, rather than the existing 25 percent sector tariff climbing to 50 percent with the new reciprocal rate as has occurred with some of Trump’s tariffs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump would set out the “reciprocal tariff rate” for partners in the coming month as negotiations continue.
Trump originally announced sweeping tariffs on world economies during what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2, claiming the United States was being “ripped off.”
Amid market turmoil, he then suspended higher tariffs affecting dozens of economies for 90 days, a deadline that would have expired on Wednesday without the latest extension.
All countries receiving letters Monday were originally slated to face these steeper duties.
While the Trump administration had signaled hopes of striking dozens of deals by July, there have been limited results so far. Washington has unveiled pacts with only Britain and Vietnam, while the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower tariff levels on each other’s products that earlier reached three-digits. (Agencies)
