U.S. President Donald Trump has outlined plans for his administration to begin issuing formal notifications to American trading partners on July 4, announcing the introduction of new unilateral tariff rates.
The notifications, initially numbering between ten and twelve, will inform countries that they must comply with the revised duties starting from August 1, with additional partners expected to receive similar notifications in the days that follow.
The administration has set July 9 as the target date by which all key trade partners will be covered by these changes. This deadline was previously established as the cutoff for reaching bilateral agreements with Washington to potentially avoid the steeper tariffs at stake.
Under the new tariff regime, rates will be imposed across a broad spectrum, ranging from a lower bracket of 10 to 20 percent and reaching as high as 60 to 70 percent, according to Trump. Should the higher end of this scale be enforced, it would exceed the maximum 50 percent tariffs initially introduced during the government’s “Liberation Day” trade policy announcement in April 2025, which set a 10 percent minimum levy on imports from most countries.
Details regarding the specific countries and product categories targeted by these tariffs have not been disclosed by the administration. However, U.S. officials have confirmed that collection of the new import duties will commence on August 1, with revenue expected to begin flowing into the country on that date.
