Trump Announces New Tariffs in Bizarre Copy-Paste Letters

On Monday, Donald Trump announced new tariffs on five countries in letters shared to Truth Social that were identical in all but their addressees and rates.  

Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Kazakhstan will all face 25 percent tariffs; South Africa will face 30 percent tariffs; and Laos will face 40 percent tariffs.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal,” the letters state. Beginning on August 1, the will be placed on “any and all [of the countries’] products sent into the United States,” which will be separate from sectoral tariffs, or those specifically applied to products from certain industries.

The copy-paste letters state that the U.S. trade deficit with all countries “is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”

The letters also warn, “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the [tariffs] that we charge,” and the tariffs “may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country.”

Trump in early April paused planned tariffs for 90 days, promising to secure 90 trade deals in that time—and falling 88 short as of Monday morning, with two days to go. Since then, Trump has extended the deadline and said, in lieu of trade deals, he would send unilateral “tariff letters” to hundreds of countries to establish rates; on Fox News last week, he said such letters might say: “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25 percent tariff on your cars.”

This story has been updated.