US President Trump stated on the 29th that he does not intend to extend the 90-day temporary suspension of reciprocal tariffs for most countries after the July 9 deadline. Trump said that after the negotiation period he set expires, unless an agreement has been reached with the US, Washington will notify of the enforcement of punitive tariffs.
Trump said that as the deadline approaches, the notification letters will be sent out "very soon."
Trump’s stance has been inconsistent; on the 27th he stated that whether to extend the deadline for the suspension of reciprocal tariffs would be "up to us", but now he says he doesn’t think the deadline will be extended. CNN commented that the US economy is currently the calm before the storm.
In a pre-recorded program on FOX News Channel aired on the 29th, Trump said: "We will review a country’s attitude toward us, whether they treat us well, or not so well. For some countries we don’t care, we’ll just set a very high number."
He said that the content of the letter will read: "Congratulations, we allow you to sell goods to the United States, you will pay a 25% tariff, or 35%, or 50%, or 10%."
On the 27th at a White House press conference, Trump downplayed the July 9 deadline, and pointed out that it is difficult to strike separate agreements with each country. The Trump administration originally set the goal of "reaching 90 trade agreements within 90 days."
In the interview aired on the 29th, he said that negotiations are ongoing, but "there are 200 countries in the world, and it’s impossible to talk to each one."