Donald Trump renews threat to hit trading partners with steep tariffs

Donald Trump revived his threat to strike the main commercial partners with highly slope “mutual” definitions even when he was granted three weeks of countries to negotiate commercial deals with the United States.

Trump said the president has sent messages to Japan and South Korea, both of them are among their largest commercial counterparts in the United States, saying that the country will impose 25 percent of the fees that start on August 1.

The definitions were equal with those who unveiled Trump during his announcement of “Liberation Day” on April 2, prompting severe elements across the global financial markets.

The mutual drawings, which affected dozens of countries, partly to July 9, have been stopped by fixed markets. But since then, the White House hit only three commercial agreements – with the United Kingdom, China and Vietnam.

Trump left late on Monday the door open for more deals, saying that the messages were “somewhat final offer[s]”.

“I would like to say final. But if [countries] Call a different offer, and if you love it, we will do it. I would like to say a company. . . But not 100 percent companies. If they call and say [they] We would like to do something differently, we will be open to it. “

The White House issued an executive order on Monday saying that mutual fees will enter into force at midnight of August 1. The President made the decision “based on additional information and recommendations from senior officials, including information about the state of discussions with commercial partners.”

The scope of Trump’s tariff threats on Monday on the markets, despite the delay in its implementation. S&P 500 ended Monday with a decrease of 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, all Japanese, South Korean currencies and South Africa decreased by about 1 percent against the US dollar.

Jpmorgan noted that the ads on Monday were “a reminder that the risks are perverted towards high customs tariff rates instead of decline.”

“The reason for the initial delay-besides the sale of an important market-was the time to generate a series of commercial deals from one side,” said Wall Street. “It is not surprising that a few actual deals were concluded and the Trump administration has returned to where everything began.”

In almost identical messages posted on the social truth platform, Trump said that the trade deficit of American goods with the targeted countries on Monday, which included Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, was “a major threat to our economy and in fact our national security.”

In the messages, directed at Shigro Eshiba, Japanese Prime Minister, and Lee Jay Meong, South Korea, Trump added that if any of the countries increased the identification of revenge, “then, regardless of the number you choose to raise them, it will be added to the 25 percent we impose.”

But indicating that the proposed definitions can be negotiated, he said that if the two countries opened their markets, “we will consider the amendment.

Tokyo officials said Ishiba will hold an urgent meeting of the commercial team for his government on Tuesday.

The United States has already has a series of customs tariffs of imports from all countries, including a 25 percent tariff for cars and car parts and a 50 percent tariff for all imports of steel and aluminum.

An American official confirmed that the goods that were already subject to sectoral tariffs, such as cars and minerals, will not be affected by the new rates set by Trump in addition.

Washington also has national security investigations that can lead to customs tariffs on a group of goods and other industries, including flying, pharmaceutical preparations, wood, copper, chips and consumer electronics.

Trump has escalated his speech against Tokyo in recent weeks, as he classified the decisive trade partner and attacked him as “spoiled” because he refused to buy more American rice.

Weeks of negotiations between American and Japanese trade negotiations have produced a number of proposals aimed at breaking commercial stalemate, including buying more energy and agricultural products in Japan. But Tokyo also demanded a 25 percent complete exemption from Trump.

Meanwhile, the American trade talks with South Korea were delayed due to political turmoil in Seoul after the isolation of former Korean President Yun Suk Yol.

The European Union is expected to sign a temporary trade agreement with the United States this week that would retain tariffs by 10 percent while the talks continued, the Maroš šefčovi č Member States said on Monday.

He added to three people who were informed of the discussions, that the two sides were working on plans to reduce the 25 percent tariff on vehicles, but there was no guarantee of steel from the level of 50 percent.

Additional reports by Andy Bodes in Brussels and Kate Doguid in New York