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Journalism of Courage
As India and the US are yet to announce the much-awaited interim trade deal, American President Donald Trump Thursday said Washington would begin sending letters that will have reciprocal tariff rates for each country starting Friday.
“My inclination is to send a letter out and say what tariffs countries are going to pay. We have more than 170 countries. And how many deals can you make? And you can make good deals, but they’re very much more complicated,” Trump said.
“I’d rather just do a simple deal where you can maintain it and control it. You’re going to pay a 20 per cent or 30 per cent tariff, and we’re going to be sending some letters out, starting probably tomorrow, maybe 10 a day, to various countries, saying what they’re going to pay to do business with the US,” he added.
Trump has announced a number of trade deals, including with Vietnam and China, and had said late last month that the US and India “may” sign an agreement that will “open up India”.
The US had announced steep tariffs on several Asian countries, including 36 per cent on Thailand and 32 per cent on Indonesia. Trump announced that the trade deal with Japan had hit a roadblock and had announced 24 per cent duty on Japan.
Reciprocal tariffs of 25 per cent were imposed on South Korea, 24 per cent on Malaysia, and 20 per cent on the European Union. Notably, Trump announced 32 per cent tariffs on Taiwan, a crucial key chip manufacturing centre.
