Trump to hit at least 100 smaller nations with tariffs over 10%
US Commerce chief Howard Lutnick says the countries with goods being taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he plans to place tariffs of over 10 per cent on smaller countries, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean.
“We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them,” Trump said, adding that it could be “a little over 10% tariff” on goods from at least 100 nations.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interjected that the nations with goods being taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean, places that generally do relatively modest levels of trade with the US and would be relatively insignificant for addressing Trump’s goals of reducing trade imbalances with the rest of the world.
The president had this month been posting letters to roughly two dozen countries and the European Union that simply levied a tariff rate to be charged starting on August 1.
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Those countries generally faced tax rates on the goods close to the April 2 rates announced by the US president, whose roll-out 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.