Trump says U.S. will assign tariff amounts in two to three weeks

President Trump says trade officials will dispatch letters to countries assigning them a tariff amount because it would be impossible to meet with “150 countries” that want to negotiate a deal.

Mr. Trump said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would notify the countries in the coming days.

“At a certain point over the next two to three weeks, I think Scott and Howard will be sending letters out essentially telling people — and we’ll be very fair,  but we’ll be telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States,” Mr. Trump said Friday at a roundtable in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Trump on April 2 imposed a blanket 10% tariff on all imports but assigned higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of nations that sell plenty of products to the U.S. but don’t buy nearly as much from American producers.

He paused the hefty levies to allow time for negotiations that would seek to reduce trade barriers and decrease the trade deficit the U.S. has with those countries. 

Now, Mr. Trump says there is not enough time to meet with everyone, so countries will be notified, once again, of their tariff amount.

“I guess you could say they could appeal it, but for the most part, I think, we’re going to be very fair,” he added. “But it’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us.”

Tariffs are a tax or duty paid by importers on the goods they bring in from foreign markets.

Mr. Trump says tariffs are a great way to force companies to return to America or keep their operations in the U.S., employ American workers and create revenue to fund domestic programs.

Foreign countries don’t pay the tariffs directly to the U.S. Treasury. In many cases, U.S. companies will pay the levies, and they might pass on at least some of the cost to consumers through higher prices.

There had been talk of “90 deals in 90 days” during the pause on Mr. Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

There were signs of progress, with the U.S. and U.K. agreeing to a trade deal in principle. Beijing and Washington de-escalated their trade war after talks in Switzerland.

But Mr. Trump has taken a more direct approach in recent days, saying he would inform countries what it takes to do business in the U.S.

“We don’t have to sign deals,” Mr. Trump said during a recent Oval Office meeting. “We don’t want a piece of their market. They want a piece of our market.”