US calls for commerce offers or threatens tariffs by August 1 – DW – 07/07/2025 | EUROtoday

The United States is warning its buying and selling companions to barter new offers or face greater import taxes by August 1, the newest deadline in President Donald Trump’s implementation of “reciprocal” tariffs.

Trump says letters will likely be despatched out on Monday, alerting nations that greater duties are imminent except agreements are reached.

“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level. So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

In April, Trump introduced a 90-day pause, till July 9, on tariffs starting from 10% to 50% on dozens of nations, together with most main buying and selling companions.

Bessent insisted the August goal is “not a new deadline” for negotiations.

“We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” Bessent mentioned.

EU-US commerce talks ongoing

The European Union (EU) is amongst these in danger. Without a deal, tariffs on EU items might soar to 50%, affecting all the pieces from French cheese to German electronics.

EU and US negotiators talked via the weekend in an effort to succeed in a brand new settlement.

Bessent mentioned the administration’s technique is to use “maximum pressure,” citing the EU for example. He famous they’re “making very good progress” after a gradual begin.

He added that the administration is “close to several deals.”

“I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” he added.

Deals have already been reached with the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

The EU says it hopes to succeed in a deal, however is ready to retaliate with tariffs on US exports.

The worth of EU-US commerce in items and providers amounted to €1.7 trillion ($2 trillion) in 2024, or a median of €4.6 billion a day, in response to EU statistics company Eurostat.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru