Trump ramps up trade war with tariff blitz targeting 14 countries

United States President Donald Trump has unveiled steep tariffs connected much than a dozen countries arsenic helium ratchets up his unit run aimed astatine winning concessions connected trade.

Trump’s latest commercialized threats connected Monday enactment 14 countries, including cardinal US allies Japan and South Korea, connected announcement that they volition look tariffs of 25 to 40 percent from August 1 unless they instrumentality much US exports and boost manufacturing successful the US.

In astir identical letters to the countries’ leaders, Trump said the US had “decided to determination forward” with their relationship, but “only with much balanced, and fair, TRADE”.

Trump warned that immoderate retaliatory taxes would beryllium met with adjacent higher tariffs, but near the doorway unfastened to alleviation from the measures for countries that easiness commercialized barriers.

“If you privation to unfastened your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, destruct your tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, possibly see an accommodation to this letter,” Trump said successful the letters, utilizing superior letters to emphasise peculiar words.

“These Tariffs whitethorn beryllium modified, upward oregon downward, depending connected our narration with your Country.”

Speaking to reporters aboriginal connected Monday, Trump said the August 1 deadline was “firm” but not “100 percent firm”.

“If they telephone up and they accidental we’d similar to bash thing a antithetic way, we’re going to beryllium unfastened to that,” helium said.

Trump’s steepest tariffs would use to Laos and Myanmar, which are some facing duties of 40 percent. Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia would beryllium taxable to the lowest complaint of 25 percent.

Cambodia and Thailand are facing a 36 percent tariff rate, Serbia and Bangladesh a 35 percent rate, and South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina a 30 percent rate. Indonesia would beryllium taxable to a 32 percent rate.

All 14 countries, galore of which person highly export-reliant economies, had antecedently been taxable to a baseline tariff of 10 percent.

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a statement with leaders of different governmental parties astatine the Japan National Press Club successful Tokyo, Japan, connected July 2, 2025 [Tomohiro Ohsumi/ excavation via AFP]

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the tariff connected his state “truly regrettable”, but said the Japanese broadside would proceed negotiations towards a mutually beneficial agreement.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said successful a connection that it would measurement up negotiations up of the August 1 deadline to “reach a mutually beneficial dialog effect truthful arsenic to swiftly code uncertainties stemming from tariffs”.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said the Southeast Asian state would proceed engagement with the US “towards a balanced, mutually beneficial, and broad commercialized agreement.”

Lawrence Loh, the manager of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability astatine the National University of Singapore Business School, said Asian countries are constricted successful their quality to contiguous a agreed beforehand successful the look of Trump’s threats owed to their varying commercialized profiles and geopolitical interests.

“It is not imaginable for these countries, adjacent for a ceremonial pact similar ASEAN, to enactment successful a coordinated manner. It’s apt to beryllium to each state connected its own,” Loh told Al Jazeera, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“That’s the trump paper for Trump.”

Loh said countries successful the portion volition consciousness unit to marque concessions to Trump to debar harm to their economies.

“On equilibrium for Asian countries, not giving concessions volition crook retired much harmful than playing on with the US,” helium said.

“Especially for the smaller countries with little bargaining power, retaliation is retired of the question.”

The US banal marketplace dipped sharply connected Trump’s latest tariff threats, with the benchmark S&P 500 falling 0.8 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.9 percent.

But Asia’s large banal markets shrugged disconnected the uncertainty, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up astir 0.8 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI up astir 1.4 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 up astir 0.2 percent arsenic of 05:00 GMT.

While the Trump medication has ramped up unit connected its commercialized partners to scope deals to debar higher tariffs, lone 3 countries truthful acold – China, Vietnam and the United Kingdom – person announced agreements to de-escalate commercialized tensions.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent earlier connected Monday teased the announcement of “several” agreements wrong the adjacent 48 hours.

Bessent did not elaborate connected which countries would beryllium progressive successful the deals oregon what the agreements mightiness entail.

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt told a media briefing that Trump would nonstop much letters this week and that the medication was “close” to announcing deals with different countries.

Calvin Cheng, the manager of the economics and commercialized programme astatine the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) successful Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said that portion US partners volition beryllium anxious to negociate alleviation from the tariffs, galore governments whitethorn beryllium resigned to higher taxes connected their exports going forward.

“In my view, galore volition apt beryllium nether greater unit to deploy each disposable organization and governmental lever to code morganatic US commercialized concerns, peculiarly astir tightening rules of root and morganatic IP [intellectual property] concerns,” Cheng told Al Jazeera.

“However, determination could besides beryllium a cognisance that existent tariff lines are much durable than expected, truthful measures could displacement towards targeted accommodation, portion preparing home exporters and industries for a aboriginal of commercialized wherever a important proportionality of this tariff obstruction is apt to remain.”

“My idiosyncratic presumption is that the bulk of the existent tariff complaint is stickier than possibly initially assumed,” Cheng added.

“Future concessions could beryllium wrong single-digit percent points disconnected the mean rate.”

Eduardo Araral, an subordinate prof astatine the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy successful Singapore, expressed a akin view.

“Unless Tokyo, Seoul and cardinal ASEAN capitals tin bundle tariff alleviation with credible paths connected autos, agriculture, integer commercialized and – successful immoderate cases – information alignment earlier 1 August, the higher rates volition apt stick, adding different furniture of uncertainty to an already litigated and politically fraught tariff regime,” Araral told Al Jazeera.