US Extends Tariff Truce to August, Hits Japan & SK with New Duties

United States President Donald Trump has extended the tariff truce granted to its trading partners from Jul. 9 to Aug. 1, but has set tariffs for some of them, including Japan and South Korea, that they will have to pay thereafter.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he was open to postponing the tariffs again if the countries showed signs of wanting to negotiate, having first announced them in April. "I would say (Aug. 1 deadline is) firm, but not 100 percent firm. (...) But if they call with a different offer, and I like it, then we'll do it," Trump said at a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The deadline extension was formalised in an executive order, which, according to White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, will allow Washington to negotiate favourable deals with each country. Among those whose tariffs were due to increase this week was the European Union as a bloc. Leavitt said that delaying the deadline to Aug. 1 does not acknowledge the difficulty of the negotiations so far, which have only resulted in agreements being signed with China, the UK and Vietnam, but that the US administration wants what is best for the American people.US Extends Tariff Truce to August, Hits Japan & SK with New Duties

Trump said that the decision was made based on the current state of the negotiations, recommendations from senior officials, and additional information received by the government. The announcement came on the same day that Washington began sending letters to some of its partners, informing them of the new tariffs that will be applied to their imports from August, unless they eliminate their own tariffs. The first two were Japan and South Korea, which will pay tariffs of 25 per cent on US imports. Another dozen countries have had new tariffs imposed due to a lack of progress in trade negotiations: 40 percent for Myanmar and Laos; 36 percent for Cambodia and Thailand; 35 percent for Serbia and Bangladesh; 32 percent for Indonesia; 30 percent for South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina; and 25 percent for Tunisia, Kazakhstan and Malaysia.