US President Donald Trump said that most countries that do not sign a separate trade agreement with the US will soon face a tax rate of 15% to 20% when exporting goods to this country. This tax rate is significantly higher than the 10% announced by him in April.
Speaking at the turnberry luxury resort in Scotland, where he is meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr Trump said: I think the tax will be around 15 to 20%. It could be one of those two numbers."
The Trump administration will soon send notices to about 200 countries about the new global tax rate. He stressed that a simple and unified tax model is necessary, rather than conducting a series of separate negotiations.
We will set a tax rate for the rest of the world. And that is something they have to accept if they want to do business in the US. You can't sit down and sign 200 deals," he said.
The US has previously imposed tariffs as high as 50% on several countries, including Brazil, effective from August 1. These statements have prompted many countries to urgently enter negotiations to reduce their tax rates, including India, Pakistan, Canada and Thailand.
On July 27, Mr. Trump reached a major trade deal with the European Union, including a 15% tax on most EU goods, in exchange for the EU's commitment to invest $600 billion in the US and purchase $750 billion worth of energy in the next 3 years.
A week earlier, the US reached a trade deal worth 550 billion USD with Japan and had smaller agreements with the UK and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on July 28 that trade talks with the US are in a tense period. He admitted that Canada still hopes to achieve a tax rate lower than the 35% that the US has announced for some imports from this country.
Mr. Carney also said that Canada - where 75% of exports go to the US - will likely have to accept a certain tax rate in the current context.
