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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the new customs duties will be applied starting from the first of next August if Washington’s commercial partners from Taiwan to the European Union will not conclude with it.
These customs duties may reach 50 %. The date of the ninth of July had previously put forward until US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the countries concerned will start paying these fees from August 1 without revealing any other details.
Pesent confirmed statements by Trump to journalists on the presidential plane on Friday, in which he also indicated a new date, saying, “I will likely start it on the first of August. The date is early, right?”
The president said that he signed 12 messages that would probably send Monday.
“I think we will end from most countries by the ninth of July, either with a message or by agreement,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that some agreements were concluded.
US Minister of Commerce Howard Lottenic, who was standing next to him, confirmed that customs duties will enter into force on the first of August, “but it is the president who determines the lineage and deals at the present time.”
In April, Trump has shocked the world by announcing a significant increase in customs duties on all his country’s commercial partners. These fees ranged between 10% as a minimum and 50% for countries that are exported to the United States more than they import.
However, he soon suspended the application of these drawings until the ninth of July and opened the door for trade negotiations with each country separately.
Countries seek to conclude agreements that help them avoid these high fees.
So far, the Trump administration has only revealed two agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing have agreed to reduce customs duties between them.
With the approaching deadline of July, Trump has repeatedly stated that he intends to inform the countries with messages of customs duties.
He said on the presidential plane on Friday that sending notes would be much easier than “sitting and doing 15 different things … This is what you should pay if you want to do commercial transactions (with) the United States.”
Pesent rejected what the CNN anchor, Dina Bash, said that the administration uses threats instead of negotiations, and denied that Trump had set a new final date on August 1.
“It is not a new final date. We say: This is the date of its application, if you want to speed up things, do that. If you want to return to the old percentage, this is your choice.”
He added that the plan is to practice “maximum pressure”, referring to the European Union as an example, saying that they are “very good progress” after “a slow start.”
Alm
