WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday (Jul 7) began telling trade partners – from powerhouse suppliers like Japan and South Korea to minor players – that sharply higher United States tariffs will start Aug 1, marking a new phase in the trade war he launched earlier this year.
The imposition of the 25 per cent levy on US importers of all goods from key Asian allies Japan and South Korea rattled Wall Street, with the S&P 500 Index suffering its biggest drop in three weeks.
The 14 countries sent letters so far, which included smaller US exporters like Serbia, Thailand and Tunisia, hinted at opportunities for additional negotiations while at the same time warning that any reprisal steps would be met with a like-for-like response.
Trump said on Monday that the US would impose 25 per cent tariffs on Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan; 30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina; 32 per cent on Indonesia; 35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh; 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25 per cent that we charge,” Trump said in letters, released on his Truth Social platform, to Japan and South Korea.
The higher tariffs take effect on Aug 1, and notably will not combine with previously announced sector tariffs such as those on automobiles and steel and aluminium.
That means, for instance, that Japanese vehicle tariffs will remain at 25 per cent, rather than the existing 25 per cent sector tariff climbing to 50 per cent with the new reciprocal rate as has occurred with some of Trump’s tariffs.
