President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he is levying tariffs against South Korea and Japan beginning in August.
Trump announced in two separate posts to Truth Social that the two countries will each face a 25% tariff beginning on August 1. The president wrote in separate letters addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, respectively, that the new tariffs will be “modified, upward or downward,” depending on the U.S.’ “relationship” with their countries.
The president also wrote in the two letters that the move “demonstrates the strength and commitment” of the U.S.’ trading relationship with the countries.
Japan and South Korea are both considered major U.S. trading partners.
The president’s announcement comes after he on Sunday threatened to slap an additional 10% tariff on any foreign country that aligns itself with what he referred to as the “anti-American policies of BRICS.” BRICS is an intergovernmental organization that includes China, Russia, Iran and seven other countries. Neither Japan nor South Korea are BRICS members.
On April 2, Trump imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs on various countries before later announcing a 90-day pause on April 9 that decreased most of them to a 10% baseline tariff. Various corporate media outlets have repeatedly claimed that the president’s tariffs would lead to surging inflation in the U.S., but have repeatedly been proven wrong.
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