WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump's country-specific tariffs are now scheduled to take effect from August 1, offering a temporary reprieve as trade talks intensified with several countries, including India.
Earlier, the US tariffs were set to take effect from July 9.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the tariff reprieve on Sunday (US time) while speaking to the media. He noted that President Trump was “setting the rates and the deals right now”.
Trump told reporters that “I think we’ll have most countries wrapped up by July 9, either through letters or finalised agreements”, adding that notification letters warning of upcoming tariff hikes would begin going out from Monday (US time), with more expected to follow on Tuesday.
Trump said that sending notices would be much easier than “sitting down and working 15 different things…this is what you have to pay, if you want to do business with the United States.”
In April, Trump announced a base tariff of 10 per cent on most of America’s trading partners and thereafter additional duties ranging up to 50 per cent.
The US has announced trade deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam so far, with some more trade deals apparently in the pipeline.
“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly, ” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN.
India’s high-level official delegation led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal has returned from Washington after the trade talks with US officials without reaching a final agreement on the sensitive issue of trade in agricultural and dairy products that the US is pushing for.
Meanwhile, Trump has announced that an additional 10 per cent tariff will be imposed on countries that "align themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS”.