US President Donald Trump said on July 3 that Washington will start sending letters to countries from July 4, specifically announcing the tariffs they will be subject to when exporting goods to the US.
This is seen as a significant change compared to previous commitments on negotiating a series of separate bilateral agreements.
Speaking before leaving for Iowa, Trump said negotiations with more than 170 countries were too complicated, and would therefore choose to send letters to 10 countries at a time, specifying the proposed tariffs, ranging from 20% to 30%.
We have more than 170 countries, how can we sign that deal? It is much more complicated than imagined, Trump said.
However, the US President is still open to the possibility of signing a few more detailed agreements with partners after reaching a trade agreement with Vietnam on July 2. However, for most of the remaining countries, he said that directly announcing specific tax rates is a more feasible solution rather than prolonged negotiations.
