President Donald Trump said early Friday his administration is resuming a broad set of tariffs on dozens of countries after a 90-day pause, as trade negotiations with many of those nations have failed to yield new deals.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews just after midnight, Trump said letters informing countries of their specific tariff rates will begin going out Friday, with “10 to 12” letters issued each day until all trade partners are “fully covered” by July 9. The new duties are scheduled to begin on Aug. 1 if no deals are reached.
“They’ll range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs,” Trump said. “It’s a lot of money for the country, but we’re giving them a bargain.”
Trump’s tariff policy, first rolled out in April, imposed new levies ranging from 11% to 50% based on each country’s trade deficit with the United States, on top of a 10% baseline tariff applied globally. After market volatility followed the announcement, the White House briefly scaled the plan back to a flat 10% rate, except for China, which saw its base tariff hiked to 145%.
Since then, a handful of countries have struck individual agreements. Britain secured a 10% tariff deal in May, while Vietnam reached a framework this week for 20% rates and tougher enforcement on Chinese transshipped goods. China itself negotiated a temporary reduction to 30%. But most countries remain in limbo.
“There’s a lot of action coming,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg on Thursday, adding that roughly 100 countries may settle at the 10% minimum if no deals are reached. He previously suggested some talks could extend until Sept. 1.
Trump’s decision follows the House passage of a major domestic policy bill on Thursday and comes amid growing pressure to stabilize U.S. manufacturing and bolster leverage over global trade partners. But it also revives legal questions over whether the tariffs are permissible under a decades-old national security statute.
The administration has justified the tariffs under the argument that chronic trade deficits pose a national security threat — a theory now being tested in court. An appeals court allowed the tariffs to remain in place during the legal review, but a decision is expected soon.
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Separately, the administration has moved under different authorities to impose product-specific tariffs on airplanes, lumber, and copper, which Bessent said are not affected by the reciprocal framework.
The announcement comes just hours after the House of Representatives passed Trump’s tax and spending bill. He is scheduled to hold a signing ceremony on Friday.