Trump & Commerce Secretary Lutnick suggest US tariffs will kick in on Aug. 1

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to have hinted at delaying the implementation of his "reciprocal" tariffs to Aug. 1, 2025, despite earlier saying he would not be extending the Jul. 9 deadline for negotiations, The Guardian reported.

However, conflicting accounts between Trump and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as uncertainties about the finalised tariff rates, has left many people confused about what's to come.

We break it down.

What Bessent said

On Jul. 6, Bessent hinted at several big announcements of trade agreements in the coming days, according to The Guardian.

Speaking to CNN, he warned that countries that fail to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S. by Aug. 1 will revert to the tariff rates set on Apr. 2.

"So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly", he added.

However, Bessent said that Aug. 1 is not a new deadline for the tariff pause, and did not elaborate on what Jul. 9 might look like, AP News reported.

What Trump said

On Jul. 4, Trump told reporters that his administration may start sending out letters on Jul. 5 to countries that have yet to strike a tariff deal with the U.S., though the tariffs would not kick in until Aug. 1, according to AP News.

Speaking to reporters again on Jul. 6, Trump once again said that he planned to start sending out letters on Jul. 7 to U.S. trade partners, indicating a set of tariffs planned for them.

"Could be 12, could be 15", he said, referring to the number of letters he intended to send.

"We’ve made deals also...So we're going to have a combination of letters, and some deals have been made", he added.

When asked for clarification whether the tariffs would come into effect on Jul. 9 or Aug. 1, Trump said,"No, they’re going to be tariffs, the tariffs, the tariffs are going to be, the tariffs...I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, yeah. Either a letter or a deal."

Letters to go out from Jul. 7

The confused reactions to these remarks led to Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnicik clarifying that the tariffs will "go into effect Aug. 1, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now."

On the same evening, Trump announced via Truth Social that the tariff letters and deals will be sent to trade partners from noon on Jul. 7.

He added in a separate post that BRICS countries — referring to an organisation of developing countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — as well as any other country that aligns with their supposed 'Anti-American' agenda, would face an additional ten per cent tariff on top of the original rates set in April.

BRICS' members appeared to respond to the announcement on the same night amidst their group's meeting in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

They warned against “unjustified unilateral protectionist measures, including the indiscriminate increase of reciprocal tariffs” that will "[exacerbate] existing economic disparities".

"We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules", they said in a joint statement.

Background

Trump's reciprocal tariffs were first unveiled on Apr. 2, a day he called "Liberation Day".

Many of the U.S.'s key trading partners, including Singapore, made the list, all of whom will face a ten per cent base tariff rate when trading with the U.S.

China, as well as a number of other countries, was hit with an additional rate on top of the base, making their total tariff set at 54 per cent.

A series of tit-for-tat moves between China and U.S. commenced as China retaliated with matching reciprocal tariffs, and figures soared as high as 125 per cent.

While the tariffs were set to come into effect on Apr. 9, a sell-off on Wall Street and the bond market eventually prompted Trump to impose an immediate 90-day pause on the tariffs expiring on Jul. 9, with the exception of those on China.

Trump said that the three months would be used for countries to negotiate trade deals with the U.S.

However, as Jul. 9 looms, only three deals with trading partners have been announced, with the UK, Vietnam and India.

The Trump Administration has yet to announce if they will revert to April's tariff rates, or even impose higher levies.

In short, Singapore will either have two more days or the rest of the month to negotiate the tariffs with Trump. We'll see.

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Top image via Carlos Barria/Reuters