The U.S. government will send ten to twelve letters to countries on Friday regarding the import duties they will have to pay. According to President Donald Trump, more will follow in the coming days.
It is not known to which countries the first letters will go. Trump has indicated that the U.S. import duties will take effect on August 1.
According to the American president, all letters will be sent by Wednesday, July 9. The letters contain trade tariffs that he says range from “maybe 60 or 70 percent to 10 and 20 percent.”
The highest tariffs are higher than the tariffs Trump initially announced in early April. Those tariffs ranged from a base rate of 10 percent for most countries to a maximum of 50 percent.
After a scare reaction in the financial markets, Trump quickly postponed those tariffs by ninety days. That was to give countries more time to negotiate the duties. During that period, the United States introduced a base rate of 10 percent. The deadline for the negotiations expires next Wednesday.
So far, the U.S. government has reached trade agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. The U.S. concluded a provisional trade agreement with China. Many important trading partners, such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea, are still working on finalizing deals.