Week commencing 7 July
11.30am, 7 July: The US tariff deadline appears to have been moved to 1 August after a series of comments from both US president Donald Trump and senior White House officials.
On social media, Trump said that ‘tariff letters’ will be “ delivered starting 12:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday, July 7th." The contents of these letters is unknown, but they could include the terms of any additional rates.
However, at a press conference held yesterday (6 July), Trump was unclear on when the tariffs would actually go into effect.
When asked by a journalist if rates would change on Wednesday (9 July), Trump responded by saying:
“They’re going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs. I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal.”
US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, clarified at the same conference: “Tariffs go into effect 1 August , but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.”
The original deadline for tariffs coming into effect was Wednesday. However, Trump and Lutnick appear to have extended this.
A statement from the Japanese foreign ministry confirmed that Japanese economic minister, Akazawa Ryosei, has held two lengthy telephone meetings with Lutnick on the subject of tariffs last week.
In another tariff-related announcement, Trump said that he would hit any nation that sided with the BRICS alliance with an additional 10%.
The president said on social media:
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The BRICS group includes Russia, China and India. Last year, it expanded membership to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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