Customs duties: Trump promises new surcharges for several countries, including Japan

Donald Trump continues to disrupt international economic trade. On Monday, July 7, the US president promised a tariff surcharge of at least 25% on several countries, including Japan and South Korea, a new step in his all-out trade offensive.

These additional customs duties will be imposed "from August 1st," the head of state stated in almost identical letters addressed to several capitals and published on his Truth Social platform.

If he carries out his threats, Japanese products will be hit with a 25% surcharge (compared to the 24% rate announced in April), as will those from South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia. The surcharge will be higher for South Africa (30%), but especially for Laos and Burma (both 40%).

The letters emphasize that if goods are labeled as coming from these countries, but actually come from elsewhere, a "higher" surcharge will apply, without specifying the amount. It is also assured that any retaliation will be punished by an additional surcharge of the same magnitude.

Donald Trump announced that he would send a first series of 12 to 15 letters on Monday to as many trading partners, mentioning the surcharge he intends to impose on their products.

The US president had previously scheduled the additional tariffs to take effect on July 9, but has now pushed back the deadline to August 1. He is expected to sign an executive order this Monday to formalize the change, according to his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt .

Since returning to the White House in January, the Republican billionaire has made tariffs a central part of his economic policy: a negotiating lever to obtain concessions from abroad, a means of defending domestic industry, and a source of new public revenue.

He hates the idea of ​​the United States running trade deficits, meaning it imports more goods from a country than it exports to that country.

Since April, he has been threatening dozens of trading partners with punitive tariffs to rebalance trade. He has already introduced a minimum 10% surcharge on most products entering the United States and implemented specific tariffs on certain sectors (50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on automobiles).

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the negotiations in Washington, assured CNBC on Monday that "several agreements" would be announced "in the next 48 hours . " "My inbox was full of new proposals (from US trading partners, editor's note) yesterday (Sunday, editor's note) evening," he added, while affirming that "President Trump was focused on the quality of agreements, not the quantity."

The European Union (EU) reported on Monday that a "good exchange" by telephone had taken place the day before between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump.

Indonesia, for its part, announced that it would sign an agreement to import at least one million tonnes of American wheat per year for the next five years, worth $1.25 billion.

Last week, Donald Trump announced a deal with Hanoi, presented as favorable to American interests: a 20% surcharge on Vietnamese products (instead of the 46% demanded in April) entering the United States, and "zero" customs duties on American goods sold to Vietnam.

The US president also threatened the BRICS countries (including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa), meeting in Rio de Janeiro, with an additional 10% surcharge, after they criticized his customs offensive. The BRICS do not want an "emperor," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva protested on Monday.