President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent out letters promising tariffs to six smaller U.S. trading partners, the Associated Press reports. He also pledged to announce import taxes on other countries later in the day.
The first batch of letters went out to the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya and Iraq — none of which are major industrial rivals to the U.S.
According to the letters, starting Aug. 1, imports from Libya, Iraq and Algeria would be taxed at 30%, those from Moldova and Brunei at 25% and those from the Philippines at 20%.
While most economic analyses show that tariffs will exacerbate inflationary pressures and harm economic growth, Trump has used the taxes to assert diplomatic and financial power.
