President Trump has increased the minimum U.S. tariff rate to 15%, up from 10%, as he prepares to impose new reciprocal tariffs before his August 1 deadline.
Speaking from an AI summit in Washington Trump said, “We’ll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%… A couple of — we have 50 because we haven’t been getting along with those countries too well.”
The comment follows the U.S. and Japan’s recent trade agreement, which sets a 15% tariff rate that may become the new baseline for future trade deals.
Trump earlier this month said that more than 150 countries would receive a letter including a tariff rate of “probably 10 or 15%, we haven’t decided yet.”
President Trump’s comments come as U.S. and EU officials are nearing the formalization of a trade deal, with several sources predicting U.S. tariffs on EU imports will drop to 15% from 30%.
If no deal is reached, the European Union has approved its retaliatory tariff package on U.S. goods, which includes 30% tariffs on more than $100 billion worth of American products.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
