Trump notifies Japan and South Korea of new tariffs of 25%
CCR.CN – US President Trump began notifying trading partners of new tariff rates that will be implemented on August 1 at noon on the 7th, US Eastern Time (early morning on the 8th, Beijing Time). First, Trump notified Japan and South Korea that a 25% tariff would be imposed, and warned that if retaliatory measures were taken, the tariff rate would be further increased.
Trump signed a presidential order on the afternoon of the 7th, postponing the deadline for equal tariff negotiations with various countries from July 9th, US time, to 0:01 a.m. on August 1st, US Eastern Time (12:01 p.m. Beijing Time).
At 12:18 p.m. on the 7th, Trump first published a letter to Japan on his social media. Immediately afterwards, he published a letter to South Korea, and then published letters to the other 12 countries one after another. Trump said that he would send similar letters to all negotiating countries before the original US negotiation deadline of July 9.
According to Trump’s public letter, the new tariff rates are: Malaysia 25%, Indonesia 32%, Thailand 36%, South Africa 30%, etc. The new tariffs for the 14 countries announced this time have either been lowered or remained basically unchanged compared to the tariffs when the Trump administration announced the reciprocal tariffs in April.
The content of the letters to Japan and South Korea is almost the same, except for the names of the countries and the heads of state, and they all start with “I am honored to send this letter.” The letters to other countries are exactly the same except for the names of the countries, heads of state and tariffs.
In the letter to Japan, Trump said: “In order to eliminate the trade deficit caused by Japan’s tariff rates and non-tariff barriers for a long time,” he said that he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Japan.
In the reciprocal tariff plan announced by the Trump administration on April 2, it stated that a basic tariff rate of 10% and an additional tariff rate of 14% would be applied to Japan, totaling 24%. The additional tariff rate is currently suspended, and only the basic tariff rate of 10% applies.
In an interview with the Nikkei, a White House official explained that from August 1, an additional 15% will be added to the current 10% basic tax rate, resulting in a total tax rate of 25%.
In the letter, Trump wrote that tariffs on different areas such as automobiles, steel, and aluminum products will be treated separately from the new 25% tariff. White House officials also said that “tariffs in different areas” and the new 25% tariff “will not overlap.”
In the letter, Trump argued that the existing bilateral trade relationship is “far from reciprocal,” adding: “The 25% figure is far from enough to correct the trade imbalance with your country, and I hope you can understand this.”
Trump also said that if tariffs or non-tariff barriers can be reviewed, “I will consider adjusting the content of this letter.” The possibility of lowering tariffs through negotiations was conveyed to Japan and other countries.
The Trump administration has so far reached an agreement on trade agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. The European Union is in final negotiations with the United States. According to Bloomberg, the EU is striving to reach a temporary agreement with the United States within this week and continue to maintain the existing 10% tariff rate from August 1.
For China, the Trump administration has taken a separate measure to suspend the increase of the reciprocal tariff surcharge rate until August 12. In the presidential order on the 7th, Trump made it clear that the suspension measures against China will continue to be effective.
The Japanese government will hold a comprehensive countermeasures headquarters meeting on US tariff measures at the Prime Minister’s Office on the morning of July 8, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will attend.