Trump says letters with new unilateral tariff rates to be sent soon
Before Trump revealed that the letters could be sent as soon as Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that a trade deal with Japan is unlikely to be sealed any time soon, citing complications related to the July 20 upper house election.
Bessent said in a CNBC interview that Japan is in a "tough spot right now," noting that the election has created "a lot of domestic constraints in terms of doing a deal. So, we'll see where the Japanese deal goes."
Trump and senior officials of his administration have intensified pressure on Japan and other major U.S. trading partners as a 90-day tariff pause, set with the hope of facilitating talks on bilateral trade deals, is due to expire Wednesday.
"It's just much easier. We have far more than 170 countries" to deal with, Trump told reporters on Thursday evening before boarding Air Force One for an event in Iowa.
"I'd rather send out a letter saying this is what you're going to pay to do business in the United States."
"I'd rather just do a simple deal where you can maintain it and control it," he added.
Bessent said the Trump administration is likely to impose a minimum reciprocal tariff rate of 10 percent on about 100 countries, promising that a "flurry of deals" will be seen before the deadline.
Without naming any specific country, Bessent told Bloomberg Television that some trading partners have proposed "good deals," but some others have been "unacceptable."
"We'll see how the president wants to treat those who are negotiating, whether he's happy that they're negotiating in good faith," Bessent said. "We're going to see about 100 countries who just get the minimum 10 percent reciprocal tariff and we'll go from there."
Trump unveiled sweeping country-specific tariffs on April 2, targeting about 60 countries with which the United States runs trade deficits, before pausing them for 90 days.
Under Trump's so-called reciprocal "Liberation Day" tariffs, the administration has also levied a baseline, or universal, duty of 10 percent covering imports from almost all countries in the world, which does not fall under the scope of the pause.
On Wednesday, Trump said the United States had struck a trade deal with Vietnam that includes a 20 percent tariff on goods from the Southeast Asian country, much lower than the 46 percent rate he initially threatened to impose.
The deal with Vietnam, which follows an agreement with Britain, is only the second since Trump announced his hefty global tariffs.
Under Trump's reciprocal scheme, Japan is facing an additional tariff of 14 percent, for a total rate of 24 percent.
Of the 60 countries, 18 major trading partners for the United States, including India, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, have been given priority in negotiations.
But talks with Japan have stalled due to sharp differences over Trump's increase in April of an industry-specific tariff on imported cars to 27.5 percent from 2.5 percent.
As with the 10 percent minimum tariff, the additional auto duty, introduced in the name of protecting U.S. national security, has already taken effect.
Despite the lack of progress, the Japanese government is seeking to send its chief tariff negotiator to the United States for an eighth round of ministerial-level talks early next week, according to a source familiar with the planning.
In a Fox News interview broadcast Sunday, Trump said, "I could send one (letter) to Japan: 'Dear Mr. Japan, here's the story. You're going to pay a 25 percent tariff on your cars.'"
Two days later, Trump said, "I'm not sure we're going to make a deal. I doubt it," while floating the idea of raising tariffs on imports from Japan to as high as 30 or 35 percent.
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