Trump’s tariff letters to 6 more nations: Iraq, Algeria and Sri Lanka face 30%

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated his trade offensive by issuing fresh tariff notices to seven additional countries – Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, and the Philippines – as part of what he described as a sweeping effort to address “unfair trade imbalances”.

The new tariff directives, communicated via official letters to foreign leaders and shared on Trump’s Truth Social platform, outline duty hikes of 30 per cent on Algeria, Iraq, Libya and Sri Lanka; 25 per cent on Brunei and Moldova; and 20 per cent on the Philippines. The tariffs will take effect starting August 1.

The announcement follows a similar move on Monday, when Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from South Korea and Japan. Describing the decision as overdue, Trump argued that the imposed rate was “far less” than what he believed necessary to bridge the United States’ persistent trade deficits with both East Asian nations.

In quick succession, Trump broadened the scope of the tariffs to twelve more countries, including Myanmar, Laos, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia, and Thailand.

In each case, the Republican framed the measures as necessary to rectify what he called years of “Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers” that had contributed to “unsustainable trade deficits” against the United States.

“Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!” Trump stated in the letters.

While stressing that the US remained open to trade, Trump made clear that it had to be “fair and balanced”. He also offered an olive branch to international manufacturers, assuring that companies willing to relocate their production facilities to US soil would be exempt from the new tariffs.

In a warning to the newly targeted nations, Trump said any retaliatory measures would trigger further tariff hikes by Washington, signalling a combative stance likely to spark tensions across multiple continents.

The expansion of the tariff regime comes amid Trump’s continued focus on trade imbalances as a core plank of his economic agenda, setting the stage for global trade friction ahead of the August 1 implementation date.

TRUMP’S 10% TARIFF THREAT TO INDIA, BRICS MEMBERS

Donald Trump, while claiming that the Brics, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was set up to hurt America, said that the nations would be slapped with 10% tariff rates soon.

“Anybody that’s in Brics is getting a 10 per cent charge pretty soon,” Trump said while speaking to the media at the White House.

This came a day after the White House announced that Trump views the Brics alliance as a growing threat to American interests and has pledged to take all necessary steps to ensure the US is “fairly treated on the world stage”.

On Tuesday, Trump confirmed 10 per cent tariff rates on Brics nations, including India. “They will certainly have to pay 10 per cent if they are in Brics because Brics was set up to hurt us, to degenerate our dollar and take it off as the standard. But that’s ok. If they wanna play that game, I can play that game too”.

“They are trying to destroy the dollar so that another country can be the standard. If you have a smart president, you will never lose the standard. If you have a stupid president like the last one, you will lose the standard. And if we lost the world standard dollar, that would be like losing a world war. We can’t let that happen,” Trump asserted.

Trump continued his attack on the Brics members, saying that if anybody is going to challenge the dollar’s place, they will have to pay a big price. “I don’t think any of them are going to pay that price”.

– Ends

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