- President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration will inform some countries within a few weeks of new tariff rates that will be imposed on them. That comes after he hit U.S. trading partners around the world last month with “reciprocal” duties, then put them on a 90-day hold a week later, allowing time to negotiate.
The U.S. can’t negotiate with all the countries that were hit with tariffs, so some trading partners will soon find out in a letter what rate they will face, President Donald Trump said.
During a business roundtable in Abu Dhabi on Friday, he suggested his administration will impose tariffs on certain countries unilaterally, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“We have, at the same time, 150 countries that want to make a deal, but you’re not able to see that many countries,” Trump said. “So at a certain point, over the next two to three weeks, I think Scott and Howard will be sending letters out, essentially telling people—we’ll be very fair—but we’ll be telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States.”
That comes after he hit U.S. trading partners around the world last month with “reciprocal” duties, then put the steepest ones on a 90-day pause a week later for most countries, allowing time to negotiate.
After the pause was announced, Bessent said Trump would be “personally involved” in tariff discussions to extract concessions, adding “no one creates leverage for himself like President Trump.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. reached a trade deal last week with the United Kingdom and agreed with China over the weekend to temporarily slash their respective duties, which topped 100% on both sides.
The administration has also been saying that the U.S. is close to a deal with about two dozen countries, including India, Japan, and South Korea, and officials have maintained that a 10% rate is a baseline. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was in South Korea this week for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting.
Trump’s indication that other countries not currently in talks will instead have a new rate imposed on them in two to three weeks means it will come before the 90-day pause expires in July.
“I guess you could say they could appeal it, but for the most part I think we’re going to be very fair, but it’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,” Trump said Friday.
In a statement to Fortune, White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “President Trump is focused on reducing our historic trade deficit and leveling the playing field for American industries and workers. Quick action on the President’s agenda is critical to restore American Greatness.”
U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday after rallying earlier this week on hopes that de-escalation with China signals a lighter touch on trade.
It’s unclear how solid Trump’s timeline of two or three weeks will be. On April 23, just over three weeks ago, he made a similar statement about imposing new tariff rates.
“In the end, I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to have great deals, and by the way, if we don’t have a deal with a company or a country, we’re going to set the tariff,” he said during an Oval Office ceremony. “I’d say over the next couple of weeks, wouldn’t you say? I think so. Over the next two, three weeks. We’ll be setting the number.”
