President Trump unveiled a new round of tariff letters to seven countries on Wednesday, warning they’ll be hit with higher levies on imported goods in August if they fail to reach a trade agreement with the U.S.
Mr. Trump said he would levy a 30% rate on Algeria, Libya, Sri Lanka and Iraq, a 25% tariff on products from Brunei and Moldova, and a 20% rate on goods imported from the Philippines. The tariffs largely match the rates Mr. Trump announced in April, though Iraq’s tariff has been reduced from 39% and the Philippines’ rate is up from the initial 17%.
Of those seven countries, only the Philippines ranks among America’s top 50 trading partners, with $14.1 billion of goods imported last year. Electronics, auto parts and textiles are among the products it sells to the U.S.
Imports from the other five nations amounted to less than $15 billion last year, according to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Of that total, Iraq’s oil imports account for roughly half of that total.
Mr. Trump began notifying countries of the new rates on Monday. Identical two-page letters were sent to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand.
Tariff rates for each country now range from 25% to 40%, and the letters say the U.S. may consider adjusting the levies “depending on our relationship with your country.”
The tariff rates spelled out in the letters are similar to what Mr. Trump imposed as part of his tariff rollout in April, which established a 10% baseline levy for nearly all of America’s trading partners along with higher duties on scores of nations.
Those higher tariff rates were paused for 90 days after turmoil in the stock market. The pause was set to expire Wednesday, but earlier this week Mr. Trump signed an executive order delaying the tariff deadline until Aug. 1.
Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social that he would release letters to “a minimum of 7 countries having to do with trade,” with more to go out Wednesday afternoon. However, as of noon Wednesday, only six letters were released.
