Trump extends deadline for higher tariffs to August 1

A 90-day tariff break was set to expire on Wednesday. On Monday, Trump extended the break by a good three weeks.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order postponing the deadline for higher tariffs against a number of countries to take effect.

The White House announced this on Monday evening Danish time.

The original deadline was July 9th. It has now been postponed to August 1st.

It was in early April that the president announced tariffs on imports of goods from a number of countries. He has dubbed the day “Liberation Day.”

On the same day the tariffs went into effect, the US president chose to put several of them on hold for 90 days, during which a lower base tariff of ten percent would apply to most countries. This is the pause that was previously set to expire on Wednesday.

Trump was subsequently asked whether the new deadline is final.

It happened during a dinner at the White House, which was also attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

– I would say it’s final, but it’s not 100 percent final, Trump’s response was according to AFP.

12 countries will receive customs letters

Earlier Monday, Trump published two tariff letters to Japan and South Korea on his social media site, Truth Social.

It appears here that from August 1st he will introduce a 25 percent tariff on all goods from the two countries.

Later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that 12 additional countries will receive customs letters.

The EU will not receive a letter, EU sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

On the way to a meeting of EU economy ministers on Tuesday in Brussels, economist Stephanie Lose (V) calls on the EU Commission to continue negotiations with the Trump administration.

– We must keep the dialogue open with the US and not escalate the situation. We must try to find solutions, and I am convinced that this will also be the approach going forward, says Stephanie Lose.

/ritzau/