Trump says again he'll set unilateral tariffs in 2 weeks

United States president Donald Trump said he is planning on sending letters to trading partners within the next two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates.

This will be ahead of the Jul. 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties.

“We’re going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is,” he told reporters on Jun. 11 at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington where he was attending a performance.

"At a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it,” he added.

Asked if he would extend the deadline for nations to cut deals with his administration before higher levies take effect, Trump said he would be open to it.

“But I don’t think we’re gonna have that necessity,” he added.

Trade framework with China completed

Trump earlier said on Jun. 11 that the trade framework with China had been completed.

The deal would see Beijing supply rare earths and magnets, with the U.S. allowing Chinese students to study at American colleges and universities.

Reports later indicated China would only loosen restrictions on exports for a six-month period.

Resource-intensive talks

Trump had initially suggested holding talks with each partner, but has backed off from that idea.

He is now prioritising talks with key economic partners.

He acknowledged that the administration does not have the capacity to negotiate dozens of individual deals.

Bilateral deals with India, Japan, South Korea, as well as the European Union (EU) are in the works.

The EU is likely to be among the last deals that the U.S. completed, expressing frustration with conducting talks with a 27-nation bloc.

Amidst ongoing negotiations, the only trade framework the U.S. has reached is with Britain, as well as a tariff truce with China.

However, the truce with China was threatened after Washington and Beijing accused each other or reneging on the terms.

This led to marathon talks in London earlier in the week on how to implement their agreement.

Will new tariffs come to pass?

Trump has often set two-week deadlines for actions, only for them to come later or not at all, Bloomberg reported.

He previously announced on May 16 that he would be setting tariff rates for U.S. trading partners “over the next two to three weeks”.

Earlier in April, he announced higher tariffs on dozens of trading partners but paused them for 90 days as markets reacted negatively.

Top photo via Donald Trump Facebook