Trump says tariff letters will go out Monday

July 07, 2025 (MLN): President Donald Trump declared late Sunday that the United States will begin delivering tariff letters to countries around the world starting at 12:00 PM Eastern Time (1600 GMT) on Monday, July 7.

The message, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account, read:

“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

This move builds on Trump’s earlier pledge made in April, when he introduced a new tariff policy that set a base tariff rate of 10% on most nations, with potential surcharges of up to 50%.

While a three-week reprieve was granted at the time, only 10% of countries were exempted from the initial rollout.

Trump had also flagged August 1 as the key enforcement date, though he left ambiguity about whether all tariffs would rise at that time.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later clarified that the higher tariffs will indeed take effect on August 1, emphasizing that Trump is “setting the rates and the deals right now.”

In line with this, the President warned that countries receiving letters but failing to finalize trade deals would revert to the original April 2 tariff levels by the enforcement deadline.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that Trump would be sending letters to a wide range of trading partners, saying:

“If you don't move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level.”

Bessent added that around 100 smaller nations, many with limited U.S. trade, would be formally notified of the pending tariff increases.

He also mentioned that several major trade agreements are nearing completion, including one with the European Union, with announcements expected in the coming days.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, Kevin Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, noted that there may still be room for flexibility for nations engaged in earnest negotiations.

As Trump returned to Washington from a weekend of golfing in New Jersey, the global response was swift.

BRICS leaders, whose member nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, issued a joint statement condemning the rising tariff threats.

They also called for institutional reforms and warned that escalating trade barriers risk undermining global commerce.

In response, Trump stated that countries “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies” of the BRICS bloc would face an additional 10% tariff, with no exceptions granted.

Whether this approach will derail ongoing talks with nations like India and Indonesia remains unclear particularly as Trump has close ties with other BRICS members, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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