President Donald Trump sent letters to over a dozen countries providing notice of new tariff rates that will go into effect Aug. 1, including a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, the Associated Press reports.
The letters warned the countries’ leaders not to retaliate with their own increases, or the U.S. would hike tariffs further.
Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40%, Cambodia and Thailand at 36%, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35%, Indonesia at 32%, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%.
Early Tuesday, South Korea said it would accelerate negotiations with the U.S. to achieve a deal that is mutually beneficial before Aug. 1. Japan echoed the sentiment but also called Trump’s decision “extremely regrettable.”
Trump’s actions have stoked fears that tariffs will blight U.S. economic growth or make the country more vulnerable to a recession, but the president has expressed confidence that tariffs are necessary to revitalize domestic manufacturing and fund his new tax cuts.
