Trump announces 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea in first U.S. trade letters

The president has just posted on True Social two letters that he says he has sent to the president’s the prime minister of Japan and the president of South Korea informing them both that they will be now charged 25% tariffs beginning on August 1st on all exports that they are sending into the United States. That of course will be a tariff that is ultimately paid by the importers in the US who are buying those goods from Japan and South Korea. But all of their exports now to the US will be hit with a 25% tariff beginning on August 1st. He says this will be separate from any sectoral tariffs that might already be in place or might be coming into place. And this, of course, Scott, is what he threatened to do when he said he would be sending letters beginning at noon today to these world leaders. He also says in the letter that if any uh if either country decides to retaliate by any amount, he will add that onto the 25% tariffs. will only increase uh to match whatever they retaliate with. So, we will have to see how these countries respond. The August 1st enactment date does give a little bit more room to negotiate. One final thing I’ll flag Scott is that for uh South Korea, this is the same reciprocal rate they were initially going to be charged at 25%. For Japan, initially it was 24%, now it’s around 25%. So, it’s basically kicking back in those reciprocal rates that we first heard about back on April 2nd.

The U.S. will impose 25% blanket tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea starting August 1st, President Donald Trump revealed Monday.

Trump, in a pair of Truth Social posts, shared screenshots of letters apparently sent to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung dictating the new tariff rates.

16 Comments

  1. More illegally imposed taxes without congressional approval. Who cares about the constitution right?
    Tariffs and the regulation of international congress are strictly the powers of the legislative branch…