Trump says he is about to raise tariffs as high as 70% on some countries

On April 9, President Donald Trump gave the world a three-month window to negotiate trade deals with the United States or face higher “reciprocal” tariffs. With just five days remaining in that tariff moratorium, the White House is expected to begin delivering a message to a dozen or so countries: Time is up, and here’s your new tariff rate.

Trump early Friday at Joint Base Andrews told reporters that he would notify 10 to 12 nations a day over the course of the next five days, detailing their new tariffs in letters that the White House would begin sending on Friday. In most cases, the new rates would go into effect August 1, Trump said.

“They’ll range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs, but they’re going to be starting to go out sometime tomorrow,” Trump said. “We’ve done the final form, and it’s basically going to explain what the countries are going to be paying in tariffs.”

In April, Trump imposed “reciprocal” tariffs as high as 50% on most of America’s trading partners. So tariffs of 60% or 70% would exceed those rates, which sent stocks crumbling into bear-market territory, while bonds and the US dollar sold off sharply. US stocks and bonds markets were closed for Independence Day Friday, but stock markets and futures fell around the world.

It’s not clear yet which countries would receive the letters, but Trump has called out certain trading partners for driving too hard of a bargain, including the European Union and Japan. Trump this week threatened to send a letter to “spoiled” Japan setting its tariff rate as high as 35%. Still, that may have been a negotiating tactic, and it’s not known whether those partners will be among the countries for whom the White House will set new tariffs.