The Trump administration has effectively pushed back the start date of the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs to Aug. 1 for countries that can’t manage to broker trade deals with the United States beforehand.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday told CNN that about 100 smaller countries could be impacted by the decision, noting that if they aren’t able to reach a consensus with the U.S. in trade negotiations, “then on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level.”
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Bessent said those nations would receive letters informing them that they will face the tariff rates laid out during the president’s Rose Garden address three months ago. “It’s not a new deadline,” the treasury secretary added. “We are saying this is when it’s happening; if you want to speed things up, have at it, if you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”
Bessent hinted that there will be a flurry of dealmaking over the course of the coming days as countries scramble to hash out new trade terms with the administration, presumably to stave off the double-digit duty rates President Donald Trump promised to levy against them as a means of rectifying what he views as an unacceptable trade imbalance between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
“We are close to several deals,” Bessent added. “As always, there’s a lot of foot-dragging on the other side,” he noted, saying, “I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days.”
Wednesday represents the formerly agreed upon expiration of Trump’s 90-day tariff pause. Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday evening, the president said that “most countries” would see trade deals by the original July 9 deadline. “Either a letter or a deal,” he said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was traveling with the Commander in Chief, confirmed that new tariff rates will be implemented in August.
“I am pleased to announce that the UNITED STATES TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World, will be delivered starting 12:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday, July 7th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday evening, adding in a later post, “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy.”
The president has previously called out the BRICS Alliance—which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as founding members, along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as more recent additions, for forming a trade bloc that aims to destabilize the strength of the U.S. dollar.
While senior administration officials like Lutnick, Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Ambasador Jamieson Greer have touted over recent weeks finalized deals with the United Kingdom, China and Vietnam, many of the finer details of those agreements have not yet been released.
According to the administration, the U.K. will face a 10-percent duty rate on most goods, including cars. China and the U.S. wrapped up a second round of trade talks a week ago, wherein officials agreed that tariffs on China-originating exports to the U.S. market would face a 30-percent tariff rate and the country would lower export barriers on rare earth minerals.
On July 2, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had personally reached an agreement with the general secretary of Vietnam which includes a 20-percent tariff on goods shipped into the U.S. The deal also includes a provision for transshipments, wherein goods originating in another country (like China) that are routed through Vietnam will face a 40-percent duty rate.
