US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new tariffs on goods from 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, escalating a global trade offensive he says is aimed at restoring balance to American trade relationships.
The new measures include a 25 percent tariff on goods from Japan and South Korea, to take effect on August 1.
Trump posted letters to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, saying: "Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal."
He urged both countries to relocate manufacturing to the United States to avoid the new tariffs and warned that retaliatory tariffs would trigger even steeper US penalties.
"If for any reason you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge," Trump wrote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the president will sign an executive order delaying the original July 9 deadline for imposing the tariffs until August 1.
She said more than a dozen countries were receiving official notifications.
"The administration, the president, and his trade team want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker," Leavitt said.
In addition to Japan and South Korea, Trump announced new tariffs on:
Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia – 25 percent
South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina – 30 percent
Indonesia – 32 percent
Serbia, Bangladesh – 35 percent
Cambodia, Thailand – 36 percent
Laos, Myanmar – 40 percent
The White House said these new country-specific tariffs will not stack on top of existing sectoral tariffs, such as the 25 percent duty on foreign cars.
Trump said the tariffs are intended to respond to persistent trade deficits and foreign policies that restrict US exports.
"These tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country. You will never be disappointed with the United States of America," he wrote in the letters.
Economic impact
Markets fell sharply after the announcements.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 422 points, or 0.94 percent, while the S&P 500 slid 0.79 percent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92 percent — their worst day in nearly three weeks.
Shares in Japanese automakers with large US export volumes dropped significantly.
Toyota fell 4 percent, Nissan dropped 7.16 percent, and Honda lost 3.86 percent on US markets.
Economists warned that the new tariffs could lead to higher consumer prices in the US, especially for automobiles, electronics, and machinery — major imports from South Korea and Japan.
Japan and South Korea alone accounted for $280 billion of the $351 billion in goods imported from the first seven countries on Trump’s list last year, according to US Commerce Department data.
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Source: TRT