WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump publicly warned 14 nations Monday that they face \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs if they fail to reach a trade deal by Aug. 1\u00a0\u2014 delaying what had been a July 9 deadline for talks to wrap up.<\/p>\n
Japan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0South Korea<\/a>\u00a0were the first two nations targeted, with the president announcing that\u00a0the major car and electronics-exporting nations\u00a0each face a 25% duty if they fail to reach a trade deal with Washington this month.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease understand that the 25% is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country,\u201d Trump wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.<\/p>\n President Trump speaks with reporters alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey on July 6, 2025. AP<\/p>\n \u201cIf for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge.\u201d<\/p>\n Also getting letters Monday were\u00a0Bangladesh (facing a 35% rate),\u00a0Bosnia and Herzegovina (30%),\u00a0Cambodia (36%),\u00a0Indonesia (32%),\u00a0Kazakhstan (25%),\u00a0Laos (40%),\u00a0Malaysia (25%), Myanmar (40%),\u00a0\u00a0Serbia (35%),\u00a0South Africa (30%),\u00a0Thailand (36%) and\u00a0Tunisia (25%).<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wish to open you heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non Tariff Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,\u201d Trump wrote to the various national leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cThese Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of the new rates were similar to those rolled out by Trump April 2 \u2014 with the biggest change benefitting Cambodia, whose rate was lowered by 13 percentage points.<\/p>\n Japan and South Korea are America\u2019s top trading partners outside of Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union and have had several rounds of preliminary talks with US officials. The two Asian nations combined account for about 8% of US trade.<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holding up copies of the letters sent to Japan and South Korea on tariffs during a press conference on July 7, 2025. AP<\/p>\n Other nations subject to Monday\u2019s announcement are important exporters of textiles and other cheaply manufactured goods.<\/p>\n Trump, 79, had hinted he would revise some looming rates downward, but his\u00a0letters indicate leniency may be off the table following a series of strong\u00a0economic<\/a>,\u00a0political<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0foreign-policy<\/a>\u00a0developments.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s new letters caused\u00a0a slump in stock trading<\/a>\u00a0after major\u00a0indices notched record\u00a0highs last week. The\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday down 422 points, or 0.94%,<\/p>\n The Nasdaq fell 188 points (0.92%), while the\u00a0S&P 500 dipped 49 points (0.79%).<\/p>\n Members of civic groups stage a rally against President Trump\u2019s tariffs policy in Seoul, South Korea, on June 30, 2025. AP<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump expects his counterparts to take the threat of higher tariffs seriously, despite now delaying their implementation twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey will take the letters seriously because they have taken the president seriously,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why the president\u2019s\u00a0phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Leavitt added that \u201cthis administration is working hard to ensure those deals are in the best interests of the American people and this deal, again, is in the best interest of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Only the UK,\u00a0China<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Vietnam<\/a>\u00a0so far have reached understandings with the US to avoid the \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs.<\/p>\n Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post\u2019s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Trump first revealed the sweeping \u201creciprocal\u201d rates for global trading partners after\u00a0applying 10% duties globally<\/a>.<\/p>\n On April 9,\u00a0he declared a 90-day pause on those rates to pursue negotiations before\u00a0imposing the levies<\/a>, roughly\u00a0correlated by the Council of Economic Advisers to halve current US trade deficits with each country.<\/p>\n Trump threatened Friday to go as high as 70% with some nations holding out on tariff agreements \u2014 and warned early Monday the US would hammer nations aligned with the BRICS organization (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) with a 10% additional hit.<\/p>\n The looming rates apply to countries with which the US has trade deficits. Most countries, including those with which the US has surpluses, already have a new 10% baseline rate, roughly triple the prior average.\u00a0<\/p>\n Traders working on the the flood of the New York Stock Exchange on July 7, 2025. The markets slumped after Trump\u2019s tariff announcement. Getty Images<\/p>\n The UK trade agreement, if finalized, will keep 10% baseline tariffs on most\u00a0goods, while exempting most British-made\u00a0cars, steel and aluminum from 25% levies that had been announced separately.<\/p>\n The US-China arrangement is still being ironed out before Aug. 10 to avoid snap back rates\u00a0to 145% on the American side and 125% on the Chinese side.<\/p>\n The Vietnam deal includes a baseline 20% tariff rate as well as 40% on goods \u201ctransshipped\u201d from China or other countries.<\/p>\n Under the USMCA trade deal from Trump\u2019s first term, goods from Canada and Mexico have evaded higher duties, though\u00a025% tariffs<\/a>\u00a0were added on items not previously part of that agreement.<\/p>\n