Trump threatens 70pc tariffs as deadline looms
Speaking before his 90-day pause on global tariffs ends on July 9, Mr Trump said he plans to start contacting countries about new levies as early as Friday.
'We're going to start sending letters out to various countries, starting tomorrow,' he told reporters late on Thursday night, claiming that import taxes would 'range in value from maybe 60pc or 70pc tariffs to 10pc and 20pc tariffs'.
This marks a significant increase in the tax hit that some countries could face, as his previous threats have seldom gone beyond 50pc.
It also suggests the president has given up on some of America's dealmaking efforts even before the scheduled the end of the tariffs suspension.
Trading partners including the European Union, Japan, South Korea, India and Indonesia are racing to get deals with the White House wrapped up before next Wednesday.
Mr Trump would not be drawn on which countries were in the Friday firing line. Only Britain, China and Vietnam have landed deals with the White House so far.
However, markets appear to be shrugging off the prospect of a hefty tariff blow to global trade, taking Mr Trump's threats as either bluster or negotiating tactics.
'Investors assume that if 70pc taxes are announced, Trump will retreat,' said Paul Donovan, the chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
There is also a widespread expectation that the tariff pause, which began shortly after Mr Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs announcements on April 2, could be extended for countries negotiating in good faith.
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, last week said talks with some key countries might stretch into early September. But Mr Trump, asked on Thursday if there was any flexibility around the July 9 deadline, said: 'Not really.'
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The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Japan walks line between recession and submission as it seeks to overcome Trump tariffs
It all seemed to be going so well. In April, Japan's chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, sat opposite Donald Trump in the Oval Office after 'positive and constructive' talks, sporting a Maga baseball cap and giving a thumbs up for the cameras. Japan's economic revitalisation minister drew criticism back home for the gesture, forcing him to insist there was 'no political significance' behind it. But the backdrop to the offending photo was far more significant than the uncomfortable optics. Akazawa's trade delegation was in Washington to begin tariff negotiations with its American counterparts that officials in Tokyo were initially optimistic would end with Japan's exemption from Trump's most egregious protectionist instincts. 'A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade,' Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting Akazawa. 'Big Progress!' 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The trade row has landed Ishiba and his government in a predicament every bit as sticky as the early-summer heat and humidity blanketing Japan. Battered by funding scandals, soaring rice prices and a cost-of-living crisis, Ishiba's administration is limping into the campaign for upper house elections on 20 July, nine months after his Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner lost their majority in the lower house. Any inkling that Tokyo is prepared to bend to Trump's demands will not go down well with voters, while analysts warn that the economic impact of accepting higher tariffs could push the Japanese economy – the world's fifth biggest – into recession. Japan's rice crisis has also become a point of contention, as the government attempts to bring down prices with the release of almost all of its 1m tonnes of stockpiled grain, along with a rise in cheaper imports. 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an hour ago
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