US President Donald Trump will today release information regarding trade with at least seven countries. He wrote this in a post on his social network Truth Social. However, he did not specify whether he would announce trade agreements or further letters to countries on which he wants to impose tariffs.
Expected wave of tariffs and new agreements
Trump wrote that this morning local time, he will mention at least seven countries in connection with trade issues. In the afternoon local time, he said, other countries will be added.
Trump originally announced a 10% basic tariff on April 2, along with high so-called reciprocal tariffs for most countries around the world. The president initially suspended the additional tariffs for 90 days, until today. However, this week his administration said that the new tariffs would not take effect until August 1. Trump has thus given US trading partners more time to negotiate trade agreements that would reduce tariffs. However, Trump also announced that he had sent letters to representatives of 14 countries with new tariffs that will take effect on August 1. These include Japan and South Korea, but the European Union was not among them.
Negotiations, tariffs, and ambitious goals
Trump said that negotiations with the EU and China are continuing well. However, he added that he is only a few days away from sending a letter on EU tariffs. The Financial Times wrote today that EU negotiators are close to concluding a trade agreement with the US. However, tariffs for the EU will be higher than those negotiated by Britain. Trump also announced on Tuesday that he would impose a 50 percent tariff on copper imports and soon introduce tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, which he has been threatening to do for some time. In the case of medicines, the tariffs are to be as high as 200 percent.
The Trump administration has announced a goal of concluding 90 trade agreements in 90 days. However, this ambitious goal has been met with skepticism from trade experts who are familiar with the difficult and lengthy trade negotiations of the past, according to Reuters. So far, the US government has managed to reach agreements with Vietnam and Britain. According to Trump, an agreement with India is also within reach.
Source: ČTK
