U.S. to send out tariff notification letters starting today, says Trump

Washington.- The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Friday that his Government will start sending letters today to the countries with which it has not reached a trade agreement to notify them about the tariffs he wants to impose on them.

Trump made the statements to the media accompanying him upon his arrival, this morning, at Andrews Air Force Base (Maryland) and detailed his plans, which he had already announced last month, to send letters to dozens of countries instead of entering into negotiations. The president will send the letters with the desired tariff rates to a dozen countries per day and expects them to be "fully covered" before July 9, when the 90-day truce expires, after which he would impose his so-called "reciprocal tariffs".

In addition, the Republican leader stated that his Government will begin collecting those fees on August 1st.

"Its value will vary between, perhaps, tariffs of 60 or 70% to tariffs of 10 to 20%", Trump elaborated on the rates he will propose in those letters and which would be higher, in some cases, than those he announced on April 2, which he called "Liberation Day".

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At the beginning of June, Trump opened the door to extend the deadline for new trade agreements and announced that his government would send letters with agreements drafted by the U.S. that countries could accept or reject. "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it (the July 9 deadline), we could shorten it. I would like to shorten it. I would like to simply send letters to everyone. Congratulations! You're going to pay 25%," Trump said a week ago at an event at the White House.

Agreements on Tariffs

For the moment, Washington has reached trade agreements with the United Kingdom, China, and Vietnam while negotiating with more than a dozen partners, including the European Union and Japan. For his part, the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, has sent more cautious messages than Trump's and a week ago suggested that the negotiation period for some partners could be extended until September. Meanwhile, a federal court ruled in May that Trump does not have the authority to apply the historic law on which his "reciprocal" tariffs are based "unlimitedly"; however, an appeals court in June allowed him to impose them while the case is being decided.