US tariffs barring trade deals kicks off 1st August —Treasury Secretary

US tariffs will kick-off in on August 1 if trading partners do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said, even as BRICS leaders yesterday warn that President Donald Trump’s indiscriminate import tariffs risked hurting global economy.

A draft summit statement noted that the BRICS were set to voice “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures,” warning they were illegal and arbitrary.

Meanwhile, Bessent said the tariff rates would boomerang back to the sometimes very high levels which President Trump had announced on April 2 before he suspended the levies to allow for trade talks and set a July 9 deadline for agreement, if no deals were made.

He confirmed comments by Trump to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday in which he also cited a new deadline: “Well, I’ll probably start them on August 1. Well, that’s pretty early. Right?”

The president said he had signed 12 letters to be sent out, likely today.

The tariffs were part of a broader announcement in April when Trump imposed a 10 per cent 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.

So far, the Trump administration has unveiled deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower staggeringly high levies on each other’s products.

Bessent said the administration was close to several deals.

“I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” he said.

He, however, did not mention which countries he was referring to, adding: “I don’t want to let them off the hook.”

As his July 9 deadline approaches, Trump has repeatedly said he planned to inform countries of US tariff rates by sending them letters.

Aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said sending notices would be much easier than “sitting down and working 15 different things… this is what you have to pay, if you want to do business (with) the United States.”