Donald Trump to set unilateral tariff rates for trading partners within two weeks, ‘Can take it or leave it’

United States President Donald Trump on June 11 said he intends to send letters to trading partners within the next week or two setting unilateral tariff rates, according to a Bloomberg report. The move will come ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on severeal countries, it added.

Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump said, “At a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it.”

When reporters questioned if countries would get more time to make trade deals before the higher tariffs start, the US president said he would be open to it, but “But I don’t think we’re gonna have that necessity”.

Change in strategy for Trump administration?

While Donald Trump had initially said he would engage in talks with each country, the US strategy has since moved towards prioritising key economic partners with the administration acknowledging that it lacks the capacity to negotiate dozens of individual deals, the report said.

While deals with China and the United Kingdom have had extensive discussions and “near” completion, Trump’s team is working to secure bilateral deals with India, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

Also speaking to reporters on June 11, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that a deal with the EU is likely to be among the last to be completed, expressing frustration with conducting talks with a 27-nation bloc.

Another TACO moment coming for US?

At present it is unclear if Donald Trump will follow through with his intent as he has often set two-week deadlines only for dates to be postponed or for the matter to be dropped, the report noted.

Notably, on May 29, a reporter invited Donald Trump ire by asking his opinion on Wall Street dubbing his tariffs plan as TACO i.e. Trump Always Chickens Out — mocking the US president's frequent tariff impositions and subsequent reductions, followed by waivers. A visibly offended Donald Trump went on a defensive rant: “Don't ever say what you said. To me, that's the nastiest question.”

In April, the US president announced higher tariffs for dozens of trading partners, and then paused action for 90 days. Then, on May 16, Donald Trump said he would be setting tariff rates for US trading partners “over the next two to three weeks”. Till date (June 11 last), the only trade framework the US has reached is with the UK, along with a shaky tariff truce with China.

First coined by The Financial Times' Robert Armstrong, the term ‘TACO’ has been picked up for use by Wall Street traders, who see large sell-offs each time Donald Trump's tariffs are announced, followed by recovery when the demand is cut down or removed.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)