In a strategic move to reinforce its trade agenda, the White House is preparing to urge several of its trading partners to finalize new tariff agreements before a looming Wednesday deadline. The Trump administration is expected to dispatch numerous letters to nations that have yet to formalize trade deals, cautioning them about potential tariff hikes set to take effect on August 1. This was confirmed by White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday.
“Our smaller trading partners could become much bigger trading partners,” Hassett said on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. “And that’s, I think, one of the reasons why countries are racing to set deals up with us ahead of the deadline.”
According to President Trump, as many as 15 letters will be issued beginning Monday, with additional communications scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking to reporters before departing his New Jersey club on Sunday, the president also noted that “some deals have been made.”
Later on social media, Mr. Trump confirmed that “Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World” would begin going out at 12:00 a.m. ET on Monday.
In another post, he warned, “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The BRICS alliance, originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has since expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. However, Mr. Trump did not provide specific criteria that would trigger the additional tariffs on BRICS-aligned countries.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed the administration’s stance, stating on Sunday that countries failing to secure deals by Wednesday could face higher tariffs starting August 1.
Despite the push, uncertainty lingers over which countries will be formally notified, whether any policy shifts will occur in the interim, and whether the White House may again delay enforcement of the proposed tariffs.
In an interview with CNN, Treasury Secretary Bessent said approximately 100 letters would be sent to smaller nations where U.S. trade volume is relatively low and tariffs already stand at a baseline rate of 10%. He emphasized that the administration’s primary focus remains on countries contributing most significantly to the U.S. trade deficit.
“There are 18 important trading relationships that account for 95% of our deficit, and those are the ones we’re concentrating on,” Bessent explained.
When asked if the August 1 date marked a hard deadline, Bessent responded, “We’ll see. I’m not going to give away the playbook,” during an appearance on State of the Union on CNN.
While President Trump and his trade advisers have suggested that negotiation windows may be extended, they maintain that the current push is part of a broader campaign to maximize pressure on foreign governments. Hassett remarked that the president alone would determine when negotiations should end.
Stephen Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, added that countries actively negotiating and showing willingness to make trade concessions could “sort of, get the date rolled.”
Earlier this year, on April 2, Mr. Trump introduced steeper tariff proposals that rattled global markets. The White House subsequently postponed the majority of these new tariffs for 90 days, preserving the 10% baseline rate while raising levies on Chinese imports to 30%.
With the tariff moratorium set to expire on Wednesday, July 9, the administration has recently celebrated progress in trade negotiations with countries like China, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Yet, many agreements remain unconfirmed.
Bessent noted that the U.S. is “close to several deals” and anticipated “several big announcements” in the coming days, though he declined to disclose specific details.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” Bessent said.
Experts believe that some nations may be granted extended time to finalize trade agreements due to the complexity of such negotiations.
“It can take a lot more time [than 90 days] to truly iron these things out,” noted Clark Packard, a trade policy analyst at the nonpartisan Cato Institute, in an interview with CBS News’ MoneyWatch.
Last week, the U.S. finalized a deal with Vietnam. According to President Trump, the agreement will see the U.S. impose 20% tariffs on Vietnamese imports and 40% tariffs on any “transshipping” activities. The president added that Vietnam had agreed to “OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,” allowing American products to enter the Vietnamese market duty-free.
This marked a notable reduction from the 46% tariff he initially proposed in April as part of his “reciprocal tariffs” plan aimed at countries with which the U.S. runs significant trade deficits.
When asked whether similar deals with India or the European Union were imminent, President Trump indicated that direct letters were a more efficient approach, given the number of countries involved.
“We have India coming up and with Vietnam, we did it, but much easier to send a letter saying, ‘Listen, we know we have a certain deficit, or in some cases a surplus, but not too many. And this is what you’re going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States.’”
Notably, Canada is exempt from the current round of letter notifications. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra confirmed this in an interview with CTV News, explaining that ongoing trade talks with Canada had recently resumed.
“Canada is one of our biggest trading partners,” Hoekstra stated. “We’re going to have a deal that’s articulated.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated that if no agreement is reached by July 21, Canada may implement retaliatory trade measures. However, Hoekstra stopped short of committing to a firm date for a final deal and acknowledged that tariffs on Canada could still be applied, saying:
“We’re not going to send Canada just a letter.”
