US President Donald Trump is eyeing to hit more than 150 countries with tariffs with one single move. Although the MAGA leader previously established the tariff baseline as possibly ranging from 15 to 20%, his recent revelation held back from determining the tariff rate.
He further noted that the “notice of payment” the United States will be sending these countries will foreground how much tariff will be imposed on them. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, he asserted that the tariff rate in question would be the same for everyone belonging to that group of small nations.
“They’re not big countries, and they don’t do that much business. Not like the ones we’ve agreed with, like China, like Japan,” he said of the next wave of tariff letters about to hit the nations soon.
A day prior to his latest proclamation, Trump told reporters the US will “probably set one tariff for all” small countries in the aforementioned group, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean. He added that it could be “a little over 10% tariff” on goods. Later on Wednesday, he admitted in an interview with Real America’s Voice broadcast, the tariffs would be probably 10 or 15%, we haven’t decided yet.”
The US-India tariff deal also hangs in the balance. Trump yet again insisted that the announcement on the issue was “very close.” He previously claimed, “We have another [deal] coming up, maybe with India. I don’t know. We’re in a negotiation… The best deal we can make is to send out a letter. And the letter says that you’ll pay 30%, 35%, 25%, 20%…”
Trump’s new approval ratings sound the alarm amid tariff letter wave
As of now, Trump has already pushed out about two dozen letters intimating other crucial trading partners of the new duties that will be set in place on August 1 if further negotiations go sideways with America. While the room is still available to countries to consolidate agreements in the matter, the Republican leader is bent on holding out the tariff letters as “deals” in themselves, showing his aversion to any amplified back-and-forth.
Despite Trump doubling down on these “deals,” skepticism about them going into effect still lingers in the air, especially since his original April duty threats instantly hit a wall. The currently emerging concerns are also tied to a significant fall in the US leader’s approval. According to a new CNN/SSRS poll of 1,057 respondents conducted July 10-13, a total of 42% approve of his job performance in his second term so far, while 58% disapprove.