US to start sending out tariff letters to trade partners — Trump

President Donald Trump has said the US government is to start sending out letters to countries with details of higher US tariff rates that will begin on 1 August.

According to Trump, between 10 to 12 letters will go out on Friday, with more over the coming days.

The import duties will range from “60% or 70% tariffs to 10 to 20% tariffs,” he said, the top end of which is higher than he had previously outlined.

Trump also has set a deadline of 9 July for negotiations over import tax rates as countries scramble to reach deals.

He has previously said there would be a baseline tariff of 10% on many economies up to a 50% maximum and did not say which countries’ goods would face the US taxes, or whether the rates would only apply to certain goods.

“My inclination is to send a letter out and say what tariff they’re going to be paying,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It’s just much easier.”

He added: “We’re going to be sending some letters out, starting probably tomorrow.”

Tariffs are taxes imposed on goods coming into a country, paid by the importer.

The idea is to have more money flowing into the US government, and also to make foreign goods more expensive, thus boosting demand for US-made goods.

Trump’s comments come before a deadline next week that could see steeper duties imposed on goods from a number of countries.

These range from the European Union, which was previously threatened with 20% tariffs later raised to 50%, to Japan, which could face 35% tariffs on its goods.

The UK and US have partly agreed on a trade deal, covering UK cars and US beef and bioethanol, but not steel.

The world’s largest economies, China and the US, initially engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war that imposed massive “reciprocal” tariff increases in April.

The US imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, while China put 125% tariffs on some goods.

(BBC)

ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE