Trump to Start Sending Tariff Rate Letters

"Ten or 12" letters are being sent from President Trump to some of America's trading partners on Friday, with more to follow "over the next few days," per the president. The letters will detail the tariff rates those countries will pay starting next month. The move comes as a 90-day pause on Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" ends on July 9, the deadline given to countries to reach bilateral trade agreements with the US.

The tariff figures the letters hold "could be even steeper than originally announced," per the New York Times, as Trump told reporters on Thursday they "will range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs"; he did not specify which countries or products would be affected. Trump had originally imposed tariffs that ranged from 11% for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 50 % for Lesotho. Trump said that countries would "start to pay on August 1," reports Bloomberg. "The money will start going to come into the United States on August 1."

So far, the US has finalized trade agreements with the UK and Vietnam and has reached a truce with China, following an earlier tariff dispute. The Guardian reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that a broad deal with the European Union could be close, which would prevent 50% tariffs on EU exports.