By Gavin Bade and Brian Schwartz
WASHINGTON -- President Trump reignited his global trade war Monday, renewing his threat to hit partners with punishing tariffs even as he announced a three-week extension to negotiate deals.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would sign an executive order extending the date when his so-called reciprocal tariffs would take effect, previously scheduled to expire at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Additionally, Trump sent letters to a handful of nations outlining tariff rates they would pay if they didn't strike trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1.
"The administration -- the president and his trade team -- want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker," Leavitt said, adding that the delay in the deadline is in the "best interest" of the country.
Trump, on his Truth Social platform, posted letters to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and others by Monday afternoon, informing them of the Aug. 1 date. In all, Trump sent letters to 14 nations. Earlier, Leavitt suggested just over a dozen nations would get letters but didn't specify how the countries were chosen. More than 80 nations were subject to the Liberation Day tariffs, first announced April 2.
"Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Japan's Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States," Trump wrote in his letter addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. "This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!"
Letters to other nations were nearly identical, though the rate varied from 25% to 40%, depending on the country. The rates were generally closely tied to the original reciprocal rates set in April, though some were slightly different (Japan's new 25% rate is 1 percentage point higher than the 24% rate set in April).
Later Monday, Trump posted letters he would send to the leaders of Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Serbia, notifying them of tariff rates that they will have to pay on Aug. 1 if they don't make a deal with his administration.
In the letters, Trump says he will set Tunisia's tariff at 25%, Bosnia and Herzegovina's at 30%, Indonesia's at 32%, Bangladesh and Serbia's at 35%, and Cambodia and Thailand's at 36%, according to posts on Truth Social.
The emphasis on trade follows big wins for Trump in the past two weeks, including signing his tax and domestic policy megabill and helping broker a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. U.S. job growth in June was steadier than economists had expected, signaling strength in the economy.
"We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday morning on CNBC.
Wilbur Ross, Trump's first-term Secretary of Commerce, said the president was moving the goal posts for imposing tariffs while also trying to up the ante by issuing statements reminding world leaders of his pending levies.
"Effectively what he has done has said this is what the tariffs will be if [other countries] don't do something different," Ross said, adding that the original July 9 date was "very, very hard to achieve."
Interests that represent U.S. trade-reliant businesses have welcomed the Trump team's stated desire to lower other nations' trade barriers, but decried his continued use of high tariffs as leverage.
"The President's strategic uncertainty is producing some short term results, but continuing to threaten exorbitant tariff rates is just paralyzing for business decision-making and erodes trust with our allies and major trading partners," said Jake Colvin, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents large U.S. firms.
Myanmar's rate would be 40% on Aug. 1, down from 44%, while Laos's would fall to 40% from 48%. Kazakhstan's rate would fall from 27% to 25%.
Malaysia's new rate would rise to 25% from the 24% announced on Liberation Day, just like Japan's, while South Africa's rate would stay constant at 30%, as would South Korea's at 25%. The administration didn't explain why some rates changed.
The reciprocal tariffs wouldn't be applied to products that are covered under Trump's separate national-security tariffs, a White House official said. So far, the president has applied 50% national-security tariffs on steel and aluminum, and 25% on automobiles. Similar tariffs for semiconductors, lumber, critical minerals and copper are being studied by the Commerce Department.
U.S. officials have promised that they would strike pacts with other nations to lower tariffs in exchange for more market access and fewer regulations on U.S. firms abroad. So far, the administration has struck a narrow pact with the U.K., arrived at a tenuous tariff truce with China, and announced a deal with Vietnam (though neither nation has provided any evidence that an agreement has been officially signed).
Trump in recent days has said he thought a deal was close with India, among other nations, but Leavitt gave no indication of which -- if any -- will be unveiled in the coming days.
Write to Gavin Bade at gavin.bade@wsj.com and Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2025 17:30 ET (21:30 GMT)
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