President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday night that his administration will notify over 150 countries that their exports to the U.S. could soon face tariffs ranging from 10% to 15%. Trade letters have already been sent to major partners, including the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, which are set to take effect on August 1 unless new agreements are reached. Negotiations with China remain ongoing.
“We’ll have well over 150 countries that we’re just going to send a notice of payment out, and the notice of payment is going to say what the tariff” rate will be, President Trump told reporters during a meeting with the Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the White House.
“It’s all going to be the same for everyone, for that group,” Trump said, adding that many of the countries that would receive the letters were “not big countries, and they don’t do that much business. Not like the ones we’ve agreed with, like China, like Japan.”
All countries are currently subject to a baseline 10% tariff imposed by Trump in April. While the president had previously floated raising that floor to 15–20%, he did not specify the new rate or timing for the 150 countries during his remarks on Wednesday.
Trump has already sent nearly two dozen letters to top trading partners, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, and others, informing them of new levies effective August 1, unless a deal can be struck by the deadline.
Also on Wednesday, Trump spoke with broadcaster Real America’s Voice, stating that the tariff rate for the roughly 150 countries would be “10 or 15%,” adding, “We haven’t decided yet.” He said his administration was very close to a trade deal with India and that an agreement with Europe was in the works.
Commenting on the new trade developments, Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia Pacific economist at Natixis, told Bloomberg that “for much of the world — and Asia in particular, which faces among the highest levies — the rate announcement could be read as a positive, providing some certainty for smaller countries with a lower rate than initially threatened.” She said the rate also signals “Trump is realizing that too high tariffs are disruptive.”
Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius updated his U.S. effective tariff rate to a higher level, but with a slower rise…
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