President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he intends to send a single letter telling more than 150 countries what tariff rate they will face.
“It’s all going to be the same for everyone, for that group,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with the Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the White House. “They’re not big countries, and they don’t do that much business. Not like the ones we’ve agreed with, like China, like Japan.”
Trump has already sent out roughly two dozen letters informing individual trading partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea of the tariff rate they will face effective Aug. 1.
That has set off an intense final stage of negotiations in which the targeted countries try to persuade the Trump administration to give them a more favorable deal.
At the same time, there continues to be skepticism over whether the new tariff rates will take effect Aug. 1 because of the potential effect that could have on the economy and ultimately Trump’s approval ratings.
Countries that accounted for more than 3 percent of the overall U.S. trade deficit in 2024 and that have not yet received a letter include Taiwan, Switzerland and India.
Trump sent mixed messages Wednesday about reaching a deal with India, first saying: “We have another [deal] coming up, maybe with India. I don’t know. We’re in a negotiation.” A few moments later, however, he said: “We’re very close to a deal with India, where they open up.”
Trump said the United States is continuing to negotiate with Japan, a major trading partner that he has threatened with a 25 percent tariff, but indicated he did not think a deal would be reached. “I think we’ll probably live by the letter with Japan,” he said.
