[Breaking News] Trump to Send Tariff Letters Starting at 1:00 AM KST on the 8th

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

President Trump announced that he will send tariff letters to key trade partner countries starting at 1:00 AM KST on the 8th.
He warned that the U.S. would impose an additional 10% tariff on BRICS and other non-Western emerging economies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed that if negotiations do not progress by August 1, tariffs could revert to April 2 tariff levels.

U.S. President Donald Trump will sequentially send letters specifying 'reciprocal tariff' rates to trade partner countries, starting at 1:00 AM KST on the 8th.

On the night of the 6th (local time), President Trump stated on the social networking service Truth Social, "I am pleased to announce that U.S. tariff letters to various countries around the world and the (resulting) agreements will begin to be delivered starting at 12:00 PM EDT on Monday, July 7."

Previously, he had expressed his intent to wrap up trade negotiations by the 9th. He intended to finalize the process by either sending letters specifying the tariff rates on exports to the U.S. to partner countries or by concluding negotiations. This is interpreted as a strategy to intensify pressure on major counterparts just two days before the expiration of the reciprocal tariff suspension period.

It remains unclear whether the letters President Trump will send will include not only tariffs by item but also details on the overall negotiation agenda.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, stated in a CNN interview on the same day, "President Trump will send a letter stating, 'If negotiations do not progress, on August 1, we will revert to the tariff levels of April 2 (when the initial reciprocal tariff rates were announced)'."

On that day on Truth Social, President Trump once again issued a warning to BRICS (an emerging economy alliance outside the Western bloc) that are resisting U.S. trade policy. He said, "Any country that aligns with BRICS' anti-American policy will face an additional 10% tariff," and added, "There are no exceptions to this policy."

President Trump has been critical of the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, BRICS-led challenges to the dollar hegemony, and the creation of new economic blocs.

BRICS, currently holding a summit in Brazil, reportedly criticized U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and the all-encompassing tariff policy in their meeting that day. BRICS is an alliance operating to promote economic cooperation among emerging nations such as Russia, China, Brazil, India, and South Africa.

Daeyoung Kim, Hankyung.com Reporter kdy@hankyung.com