Trump Threatens to Set Unilateral Tariff Rates Within Weeks
President Trump told reporters this week that he would send letters to trading partners in the next week or two setting unilateral tariff rates.
“At a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it,” the president said at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Soon after introducing steep new tariffs that roiled markets, Trump instituted a pause on his most punishing duties that expires July 9. His latest comment, however, only muddies the waters about what could happen next as the deadline approaches.
Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress that it is "highly likely" that the tariff pause would be extended for countries that are negotiating with the administration "in good faith."
The diverging signals came as the US made key progress with China, as the nations agreed to a framework and implementation plan to ease tariff and trade tensions. Trump signaled his approval, saying the deal was "done" pending sign-off from him and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump and other US officials indicated the deal should resolve issues between the two countries on rare earth mineral exports, though reports later indicated China would only loosen restrictions for a six-month period. Trump also said the US will allow Chinese students in US colleges, a sticking point that had emerged in the weeks following the countries' mid-May deal in Geneva.
Trump said the US would impose a total of 55% tariffs on Chinese goods. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports, citing a White House official, that Trump arrived at that figure by adding together an array of preexisting duties and not any new tariffs.
In corporate news, an exclusive report from Reuters on Friday, showed that nearly all iPhones exported by Foxconn (FXCOF) from India between March and May went to the US. This was well above the usual 50% average and highlights Apple's (AAPL) efforts to bypass Trump's tariffs.
Meanwhile, though Trump's most sweeping tariffs continue to face legal uncertainty, on Tuesday, the president received a favorable update. A federal appeals court held a decision saying his tariffs can temporarily stay in effect. The US Court of International Trade had blocked their implementation last month, deeming the method used to enact them "unlawful."
Source : Yahoo!Finance
