Trump says countries will start receiving letters from U.S. with new tariff amount

President Trump said he plans to send letters to each country that hasn’t made a trade deal with the U.S. specifying how much tariff they will be levied after the 90-day pause expires next week.

The president, speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force One to head to Iowa Thursday, said there are “a couple of other deals” the administration is looking at, but everyone else will receive a letter starting “probably tomorrow.”

He said they’ll send “maybe 10 [letters] a day.”

“My inclination is to send a letter out and say what tariff they’re going to be paying,” he said. “It’s just much easier. We have far more than 170 countries, and how many deals can you make?”

“You can make good deals, but they’re very much more complicated,” he said. “I’d rather — and I’ve been like this from the beginning — I’d rather send out a letter saying this is what you’re going to pay to do business in the United States.”

He said he thinks the tariffs will be “well received.”

Mr. Trump said deals with countries can get very “specific” but he’d rather do “a simple deal where you can maintain it and control it.”

He announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs that he placed on most countries in April to allow more time for the U.S. to make deals with those countries.