Washington DC [US], July 8: President Donald Trump says he has delayed imposing higher tariffs on goods entering the US from 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea.
The latest development on global trade by Trump comes as a 90-day pause the White House placed on some of its most aggressive import taxes was set to expire this week.
The president announced plans for a 25% tax on products entering the country from Japan and South Korea and shared a batch of other letters to world leaders warning of levies from 1 August.
Higher tariffs had been set to come into effect on 9 July, having previously been suspended with White House officials saying they would look to strike trade deals.
On Monday, Trump shared letters addressing leaders of 14 countries on social media, informing them of his latest tariff plans, while adding that the rates could be modified "upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country".
Most of the tariff rates outlined by Trump were broadly the same from what he had put forward in April, when he made his "Liberation Day" announcement, threatening a wave of new taxes on goods from various countries.
The president argues that introducing tariffs will protect American businesses from foreign competition and also boost domestic manufacturing and jobs.
But economists say the measures will raise prices in the US and reduce trade. The three main share indexes in the US slipped on Monday, with Toyota's US-listed shares down 4%.
Japan sent more than $148bn in goods to the US last year, making it America's fifth biggest supplier of imports, after the European Union (EU), Mexico, China and Canada, according to US trade data. South Korea was also in the top 10.
As well as South Korea and Japan, Trump on Monday set out plans for a 40% tariff on goods from Myanmar and Laos, a 36% tariff on goods from Thailand and Cambodia, a 35% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bangladesh, a 32% tariff on Indonesia, a 30% tariff on goods from South Africa and a 25% tariff on goods from Malaysia and Tunisia.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more letters could follow in the days ahead.
She disputed the suggestion that the shifting tariff deadlines from 9 July to 1 August might reduce the power of Trump's threats.
"The president's phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal," she said.
When the president first announced a raft of steep tariffs in April, turmoil broke out on financial markets, leading to the president suspending some of the highest duties to allow for talks, while keeping in place a 10% levy.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
