Trump Says India Trade Deal Near Amid New Tariffs On 14 Nations
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANI)- President Donald Trump announced on July 7 night that the United States is close to finalizing a trade deal with India, even as his administration unveiled new tariffs set to take effect on August 1 against 14 other nations.
Speaking to reporters while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump confirmed that trade deals had been secured with the UK and China. Regarding tariffs, he stated, “We’ve spoken to everybody. …it’s all done. I told you we’ll make some deals, but for the most part, we’re going to send a letter. We’re going to say, welcome to the United States If you’d like to participate in the greatest, most successful country ever.” He added, “We’re close to making a deal with India. Others we met with and we don’t think we’re going to be able to make a deal. So, we just send them a letter.”
Trump elaborated on the new tariffs, stating, “If you want to play ball, …this is what you have to pay… As far as I’m concerned, we’re done. We’re sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay. Some will maybe adjust a little bit, depending if they have a, cause. We’re not going to be unfair about it and actually, it’s a small fraction compared to what we should be getting. We should be, we could be asking for much more. But for the sake of relationships that we’ve had with a lot of really good countries, we’re doing the way I do it. We could be getting a lot more. We could ask for a lot more than what we’re asking for.”
The new tariffs, effective August 1, will apply to goods from 14 countries, including Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, South Korea, and Japan. The Trump administration shared letters detailing these reciprocal tariffs on his social media platform Truth Social.
The tariffs vary by country: Thailand and Cambodia will face a 36 percent tariff; Bangladesh and Serbia, 35 percent; Malaysia and Kazakhstan, 25 percent. Myanmar and Laos will see a 40 percent tariff on their exports to the US, while Indonesia faces 32 percent. Imports from South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be subject to 30 percent tariffs, and Tunisia will have a 25 percent tariff. Japan and South Korea will also face a 25 percent tariff, as stated in letters to their respective leaders.
In these letters, Trump also issued a threat to increase tariffs if countries retaliated by raising their own tariffs on American products. However, he indicated a willingness to reduce US tariffs if these countries revised their trade policies.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that President Trump would sign an executive order delaying the July 9 tariff deadline to August 1. This new deadline extends the 90-day period Trump had initially set for nations to finalize trade deals with the US or face higher tariffs, which was originally scheduled to end on July 9, as reported by CNN.
On April 2, Trump had unveiled “reciprocal” tariff rates for key US trading partners, with some rates reaching as high as 50 percent. These initial tariffs, implemented on April 9, led to a sell-off on Wall Street and a bond market rebellion. This prompted Trump to announce a three-month pause to allow nations more time for negotiations, according to CNN.
