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US President Donald Trump unveiled a new round of tariff demand letters on Wednesday with levies set to hit in August on imported goods from partners who fail to reach agreements with the US.
Trump said he would levy a 30% rate on Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka, with 25% duties on products from Brunei and Moldova and a 20% rate on goods from the Philippines.
The levies were largely in line with rates Trump had initially announced in April, though Iraq’s duties are down from 39% and Sri Lanka’s reduced from 44%.
Trump began notifying trading partners of new rates on Monday ahead of a deadline this week for countries to wrap up negotiations with his administration — and posted to social media that he planned to release “a minimum of 7” letters on Wednesday morning, with additional rates to be posted in the afternoon.
Out of the seven countries mentioned in Trump’s announcements so far on Wednesday, only the Philippines — which sent some $14.1 billion of goods to the US last year — ranks among America’s top 50 trade partners. Products it typically sells on US markets include electronics, auto parts and textiles.
Imports from the other six nations put together amounted to less than $15 billion last year, with Iraq — an exporter of crude oil — accounting for about half of that sum.
So far, the latest warnings have done little to rattle markets, with traders focusing on Trump’s overall extension of the deadline for the so-called reciprocal tariffs to Aug. 1. That’s effectively given trading partners an extension for talks and initially fueled skepticism on Wall Street that he would follow through on his import taxes.
Trump initially announced the so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2, but after markets reacted with alarm, paused the higher duties to 10% for a 90-day negotiating period that was set to end on Wednesday, July 9 before the latest three-week extension.
Trump’s letters on Monday targeted countries including Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. Most of the tariff rates, however, were largely in line with what Trump had already announced the nations were likely to face.
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