Washington [US], July 4: US President Donald Trump said his administration will begin sending letters to trading partners as early as July 4 to notify them of tariffs to continue trading with the US.
US President Trump on July 3 emphasized the complexity of negotiating trade agreements with more than 170 countries, and said that Washington would send letters announcing specific tariff rates of 20-30% to many countries at the same time.
"We'll probably be sending out a number of letters, maybe starting on July 4, maybe 10 letters a day, to various countries, outlining the tariffs they're going to have to pay to do business with the United States," Reuters quoted Mr. Trump as saying.
The US leader also said he expected some more detailed agreements with countries. "We have some other trade deals, but you know, I want to send a letter and tell them the tariffs that they're going to pay. That's much easier," Mr Trump said.
The US president initially announced the reciprocal tariffs on April 2, but suspended implementation for many countries for 90 days to facilitate negotiations with partners.
In April, Trump administration officials said they would negotiate 90 deals in 90 days.
Top Trump administration advisers said this week that deals with more than 10 of the United States' largest trading partners are expected to be completed by the July 9 deadline. Many major U.S. trading partners, including Japan, South Korea and the European Union, are still rushing to complete deals.
Asked whether the deadline could be extended, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on July 3: "We will do what the president wants and he will be the ultimate decider of whether or not America's trading partners will negotiate in good faith."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper