Donald Trump says US will likely set global tariff rate at 15% to 20%

Scroll.in

11 hours ago

United States President Donald Trump on Monday said he would likely introduce a global baseline tariff between 15% and 20% for countries that have not negotiated separate trade agreements with Washington.
'For the world, I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15% to 20% range,' Trump told reporters alongside United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. 'Probably one of those two numbers.'
He added that Washington would soon notify about 200 countries of their new 'world tariff' rate.
The range is a significant increase from the 10% baseline tariff that Trump had announced in April.
The announcement comes amid negotiations between the US and countries seeking lower tariffs, including India, ahead of the August 1 deadline set by Trump to conclude trade talks.
'We're going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world,' the US president said on Monday. 'And that's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States. Because you can't sit down and make 200 deals.'
Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs had taken effect on April 9. Hours later, however, he reduced the rates on imports from most countries to 10% for 90 days to provide time for trade negotiations.
In February, Washington had already imposed a 25% tariff on a range of products from Canada, Mexico and China.
The US president had repeatedly said he intended to impose a reciprocal tax on several nations citing high tariffs the countries impose on foreign goods.
The tariff plans led to concerns of a broader trade war that could disrupt the global economy and trigger a recession.
Washington had set August 1 as the deadline to conclude trade talks.
On Monday, Trump also said that the US had recently finalised trade deals with Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. He added that these countries had previously restricted American imports.
'Japan opened up to our cars, even to rice. That was a big deal,' Trump said. 'The Philippines was very closed now it's open.'
He said the US and Japan had agreed on a 15% tariff, and that a similar rate would apply to most goods from the European Union.
He also said that Washington was still negotiating with China. 'They're tough, smart negotiators,' the US president told reporters.
Earlier this month, Trump had also said that the US was very close to a trade deal with India.
Trump had said on June 27 that New Delhi could sign a 'very big' trade deal with Washington soon. On July 2, the White House said that the deal was close to being finalised and would be announced soon.
An Indian team led by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had visited the US in May to negotiate the agreement. Following this, a team of negotiators from the US was in India for a week in June.