Trump says will send letters laying out tariff rates

President Donald Trump on Thursday (July 3, 2025) said his administration would start sending letters to countries, probably on Friday (July 4, 2025), to identify the tariff rates they would face on imports to the United States. Mr. Trump told reporters before departing for Iowa that he expected to sign “a couple of other deals” in addition to a trade agreement announced on Wednesday with Vietnam.

But he said his inclination was to send letters to most other countries, stating clearly what tariff rate they faced.

His comments come days before steeper duties are set to take effect on dozens of economies— customized to each of them— ranging from Taiwan to the European Union.

These tariffs were part of a broader announcement in April where Mr. Trump imposed a 10% duty on goods from almost all trading partners, with a plan to step up these rates for a select group within days.

But he swiftly paused the hikes until July 9, allowing for trade talks to take place.

Countries have been pushing to strike deals that would help them avoid these elevated duties.

U.S. officials have signaled that there could be a flurry of trade pacts announced in the coming days.

But so far, the Trump administration has only unveiled deals with the U.K. and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower staggeringly high levies on each other’s products.

As his July deadline approaches, Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he plans to inform countries of U.S. tariff rates by sending them letters.