US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced seven more tariff letters sent to various nations, bringing the total tally of such letters to 21, so far.
The nearly identical two-page letters signed by Trump were sent to leaders of Iraq, Libya, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Moldova, and Algeria. Iraq, Libya, Sri Lanka, and Algeria received the highest tariffs of 30 per cent, while the Philippines received a 20 per cent duty.
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Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand are the nations that have received tariff letters in the previous days.
Again stating that America's trade relationship with the nation was "far from Reciprocal", the letters also warned the nation that any attempts to retaliate against the US tariffs would lead to reciprocal retaliations from the US.
This time, the letters also note that the US will “perhaps” consider adjusting the new tariff levels, “depending on our relationship with your Country”.
While the US president in April imposed a 10 per cent levy on almost all nations that America did trade with, he unveiled higher rates for dozens of those nations, but soon held off on enforcing them for a 90-day period, which was supposed to end on Wednesday, but has been postponed further to August 1.
Trump has since emphasised that no further extensions would be made.
Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has also rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminium and automobiles this year, with more of these targeted duties to hit the copper and pharmaceutical industries soon.
India's tariff letter from the US, which has not arrived yet, is likely to be influenced by New Delhi's involvement in a sweeping BRICS joint statement, a part of which voiced "serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules".
Criticising the bloc's moves as an attempt to "degenerate our dollar", Trump has since warned that countries aligning themselves with BRICS would receive a 10 per cent extra tariff, on top of the decided rate.
