US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced plans to impose new tariffs, likely to be a "little over 10 per cent," on imports from more than 100 smaller countries, including many nations in Africa and the Caribbean. Speaking to reporters, Trump said that the new tariffs would be uniformly applied across all targeted countries, saying, "We'll probably set one tariff for all of them."
Trump said, "It could be a little over 10 per cent tariff on goods from at least 100 nations."
Tariff rate to be charged starting August 1
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that the new tariffs would target countries in Africa and the Caribbean, noting that these nations typically have modest trade volumes with the US and would be relatively insignificant for addressing Trump's goals of reducing trade imbalances with the rest of the world.
In recent weeks, Trump has begun issuing formal notices to approximately two dozen countries and the European Union, outlining new tariff rates scheduled to take effect from August 1. Those countries generally faced tax rates on the goods close to the April 2 rates announced by the US president, whose rollout of historically high import taxes for the US caused financial markets to panic and led to Trump setting a 90-day negotiating period that expired July 9.
Trump likely to announce tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs
Trump has indicated that he will "probably" announce new tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs by the end of the month. He said that the plan is to begin with a lower tariff rate, giving companies a year to set up domestic manufacturing facilities before imposing higher import taxes.
Trump added that computer chips would be subjected to a similar phased tariff structure, aimed at encouraging domestic production in both sectors.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump announced a new bilateral trade agreement with Indonesia, which imposes a 19 per cent tariff on all Indonesian goods entering the US. In return, the deal grants American exports full, tariff-free access to Indonesia's markets. This agreement replaces a previously proposed 32 per cent tariff on Indonesian imports, marking a strategic move by Trump to apply pressure on trade partners while simultaneously opening up foreign markets for US products.
(With AP inputs)
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