Japanese and South Korean products threatened with 25% tariff in the United States

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

For South Korea, this represents the same surcharge as what Donald Trump announced in early April, before granting a deadline to give negotiations a chance.

This is a slight increase for Japan, which was initially due to face a 24% surcharge.

The letters point out that if goods are stamped Japan or South Korea, but actually come from elsewhere, a "higher" surcharge will apply, without specifying the amount.

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.

He had previously scheduled the entry into force of these additional customs duties for July 9, but has now pushed back the deadline to August 1.

The US president is expected to sign an executive order on Monday to formalize the change, according to his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

Down with deficits

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 customs duties to rebalance trade.

And it has already introduced a minimum 10% surcharge on most products entering the United States and implemented specific customs duties on certain sectors (50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on automobiles).

No "emperor"

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 asserting that "President Trump is 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 previous day 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 an agreement 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 American president also threatened the BRICS countries (including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa), meeting in Rio de Janeiro, with an additional 10% surcharge on Sunday, after they criticized his customs offensive.

The BRICS do not want an "emperor," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva protested on Monday.