The President of the United States of America (USA), Donald Trump, said that from August 1, he intends to impose additional general tariffs of 15 to 20 percent on countries that have not received his letters, or notifications of increased tariffs.
Since Monday, around 20 countries have received a letter from Washington announcing the introduction of tariffs of 20 to 50 percent from August 1st.
In these letters, Trump states that any retaliation to these measures will be sanctioned with additional tariffs.
Trump, who was asked on NBC News about the fate of countries that were not sent individual tariff letters, said that he "could impose a general tariff on them," of 15 to 20 percent.
"We're simply going to say that all the remaining countries will pay, whether it's 20 percent or 15 percent. We'll deal with that now," Trump told US television.
He did not specify whether these tariffs would be added to the so-called 10 percent tariff base that has already been imposed since April on most products entering the US.
Since returning to the White House in January, tariffs have become a central part of Trump's economic policy, a lever for negotiating concessions from abroad, a means of defending national industries, or a source of new public revenue, writes Agence France-Presse.
He never accepts that the US has trade deficits, that is, that it imports more goods than it exports to certain countries. Since April, the US president has been threatening dozens of trading partners with punitive tariffs in order to rebalance trade.
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