The US announces new rates for some countries but delays higher tariffs.
While sending letters to 14 nations, including South Korea and Japan, outlining the tariffs they must pay, President Donald Trump has formally postponed raising tariffs on US imports.
This latest development coincides with the expiration this week of a 90-day pause the White House imposed on some of its most aggressive import taxes.
In addition to sharing a number of other letters to world leaders warning of levies starting on August 1, the president reiterated his threat of a 25% tax on goods coming into the nation from South Korea and Japan.
Previously suspended, higher tariffs were scheduled to take effect on July 9 after White House officials stated they would try to negotiate trade agreements.
When asked by a reporter whether the new August date was a hard deadline, Trump said: “I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”
Economist Adam Ahmad Samdin from research firm Oxford Economics told the BBC that the extension came as no surprise since trade agreements often take years to finalise.
“Such deals are usually extremely detailed,” he said, adding that although Vietnam became only the second country after the UK to strike an agreement with the US, it was more of a “broad framework” speeding up talks, rather than a full deal.
Also on Monday, Trump shared letters sent addressed to leaders of 14 countries on social media, informing them of his latest tariff plans, while adding that the rates could be modified “upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country”.
Most of the tariff rates in the letters were similar to those outlined in April when he made his “Liberation Day” announcement, threatening a wave of new taxes on goods from various countries.
Besides South Korea and Japan, Trump on Monday set out plans for a 40% tariff on goods from Myanmar and Laos, a 36% tariff on goods from Thailand and Cambodia, a 35% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bangladesh, a 32% tariff on Indonesia, a 30% tariff on goods from South Africa and a 25% tariff on goods from Malaysia and Tunisia.