At least 14 countries’ imports are set to face steep blanket tariffs starting Aug. 1, President Donald Trump revealed Monday.
The president, in a series of social media posts, shared screenshots of form letters dictating new tariff rates to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, and Myanmar. Later in the day, he shared another set of seven letters to the leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Goods imported to the U.S. from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Tunisia are now set to face 25% tariffs, according to the letters Trump posted. South African and Bosnian goods will be subject to a 30% U.S. tariff, and imports from Indonesia will be hit with a 32% excise duty. Bangladesh and Serbia are both at 35%, while Cambodia and Thailand are set for 36% tariff rates, the president’s letters said. Imports from Laos and Myanmar will face a 40% duty, according to the letters Trump posted on Truth Social.
The letters Trump signed add that the U.S. will “perhaps†consider adjusting the new tariff levels, “depending on our relationship with your Country.†The letters are the first to be sent before Wednesday, the day his so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries were scheduled to snap back to the higher levels he had announced in early April.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said even more letters will be sent out in the coming days.
Later Monday afternoon, Trump signed an executive order delaying the Wednesday tariff deadline until Aug. 1. The order says Trump made that decision “based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials.â€
For most of the countries, the new U.S. tariff rates hew fairly closely to what they had faced after Trump announced his “liberation day†tariffs on April 2. For instance, under those initial rates, U.S. imports from Japan were assigned a 24% tariff and South Korean imports faced a 25% duty.
Following a chaotic week of losses across global markets, however, Trump on April 9 issued a 90-day pause, which lowered the various tariff rates to a flat 10%. That pause was set to expire Wednesday, before Leavitt announced that Trump would extend it by more than three weeks.
The letters say, “You will never be disappointed with The United States of America.â€
After Trump imposed his three-month reciprocal tariff pause in April, his administration claimed that it could strike as many as 90 deals in 90 days. But as that pause was set to expire, the U.S. has announced only broad frameworks with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, as well as a preliminary agreement with China.
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