President Trump plans to send more letters Wednesday announcing new U.S. tariff rates to a slew of countries as he escalates his aggressive approach to reforming America’s trade relationships.
In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said in the morning he would release letters to “a minimum of 7 countries having to do with trade,” with more to go out Wednesday afternoon.
The wording of the social media post wasn’t specific, but it suggests that Mr. Trump will repeat his actions from Monday when he shared screenshots of letters telling 14 countries’ leaders that their exports to the U.S. would face steep new tariffs on Aug. 1.
The 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 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.
However, those higher tariff rates were paused for 90 days after unprecedented turmoil in the stock market. The pause was set to expire on Wednesday, but earlier this week Mr. Trump signed an executive order delaying the tariff deadline until Aug. 1.
In a Tuesday post, Mr. Trump said there would be “no change” to the Aug. 1 date.
“No extensions will be granted,” he said.
