The deadline set by Donald Trump for countries to renegotiate on his Liberation Day tariff regime was July 9th. but thus far, only UK and with some threat, Vietnam finalised deals.
He indiscriminately imposed tariff on few countries with Malaysia set at the 24% on the same level with US major partners - Japan and South Korea.
Naturally Malaysian officials and businesses cannot ignore such threat.
Minister Johari Gani is concerned with importers in the US for Malaysian oleochemicals and primary commodities such as rubber gloves, wood, furniture, and coco. Penang's semiconductor could be hit hard.
It seemed as though he mean business, and manufacturers and firms are urging government to continue talk with US. Trump picked on our halal requirements the American could not fulfill and Bumiputera policy.
However, commentators are of the view that Trump's tariff plan is failing and not getting the desired response.
By the way there are only 195 countries on planet earth. Trump need to follow up on 180 countries and so far, Truth Social only shared template letters sent out to 18 countries including Malaysia.
On his threat to BRICS countries, Brazil President Lula responded;
Trump extended the deadline to August 1st and gave the impression some tariff could go further up despite the inflationary impact on the American fragile economy.
However, Bloomberg reported Trump saying it still can be negotiated.
Trump issues new tariffs, says can still negotiate
ECONOMY
Star Online Wednesday, 09 Jul 2025
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump unveiled the first in a wave of promised letters that threaten to impose higher tariff rates on key trading partners.
He also suggested, though, that he was still open to additional negotiations and pushed off increased duties until at least Aug 1.
Trump began the notifications with missives announcing his intent to impose 25% levies on goods from Japan and South Korea.
A dozen more followed, outlining plans to tariff foreign goods from trading partners including South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.
But the US President also teased the possibility of additional negotiations and delays later on Monday at the White House, saying the notifications were “not 100% firm” and signalling he remained open to negotiations.
“I would say, final, but if they call with a different offer and if I like it, we’ll do it,” Trump said after being asked if the letters represented his last word on tariff rates.
Trump spoke shortly after signing an executive order that delays the new rates until Aug. 1 for all nations facing the reciprocal tariffs, effectively buying each affected nation an extra three weeks to cut a deal with the White House.
The flurry of unilateral warnings announced on Monday represented the latest chapter in a second-term rush to overhaul US trade policies that have served as a steady source of uncertainty for markets, central bankers and executives trying to game out the effect on production, inventories, hiring, inflation and consumer demand – routine planning that’s hard enough without costs like tariffs that are on one day, off the next.
In practice, the letters appeared to largely be a novel method of once again punting a looming July 9 deadline for his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs until at least the beginning of August.
Most of the tariff rates, shared on his Truth Social platform, were largely in line with what Trump had already announced nations were likely to face.
Trump said goods from Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia would see a 25% rate, while South Africa would see a 30% tariff and Laos and Myanmar would face a 40% levy.
Other nations hit with levies included Indonesia with a 32% rate, Bangladesh with 35%, and Thailand and Cambodia with duties of 36%. Bosnia received a 30% levy, while Serbia faces a 35% rate.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said additional letters will arrive in the coming days.
The episode was the latest turn of the screw for a programme that has roiled markets and trade across the globe.
One week after announcing the tariffs at a Rose Garden event, Trump offered a 90-day reprieve, lowering duties to 10% to allow time for negotiations.
Few nations successfully negotiated deals in the short time given.
In the interim, Trump announced framework agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam and a trade truce with China.
At the same time, Trump warned nations against retaliation over his latest gambit.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by will be added” to the threatened levels, Trump wrote.
He also said that the rates did not include any sectoral-specific tariffs that the administration had or would separately implement on goods imported in key industries.
Both Japan and South Korea are major auto exporters, and are also facing US tariffs on steel.
Other nations in Trump’s early barrage have less significant trading relationships.
US imports from Myanmar, where relations have been strained by the 2021 military coup, totalled just over US$656mil in 2024, according to the US Trade Representative.
The US imports crude oil from Kazakhstan occasionally. The most recent purchase, according to government data, was in April, when the United States shipped in about 33,000 barrels a day.
Last year, cargoes from Kazakhstan averaged about 38,000 barrels a day, the highest in at least two decades of intermittent buying. Asked why Trump had chosen to hit Japan and South Korea first, Leavitt said it was “the President’s prerogative”.
“Those are the countries he chose,” she added.
Leavitt said the administration is “close” to securing agreements with some other trading partners, adding that Trump “wants to ensure these are the best deals possible”.
For many of the nations, engaging Trump in trade negotiations on his accelerated timeline has proved difficult.
Even though Japan and South Korea are two of the United States’ closest allies in Asia, they’re both dealing with domestic situations where cutting trade deals might be risky politically.
South Korea President Lee Jae-myung only took office on June 4, and elections in Japan’s upper house later this month made the government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reluctant to offer too much in concessions.
The European Union is not expecting to receive a letter setting tariff rates, according to a person familiar with those discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump has also threatened to slap an additional 10% levy on “any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS,” targeting the bloc of developing nations led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as they gathered for a meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Leavitt on Monday said Trump would “take any action necessary to prevent countries from taking advantage of the United States and our people.”
Trump’s levies will help fill the Treasury’s coffers at a time when investors are worried about the nation’s mounting debt, particularly after Congress passed much of the President’s economic agenda in a US$3.4 trillion tax cut and spending package last week.
The US dollar has slumped and longer-term borrowing costs remain elevated.
Despite Trump’s contention that foreign countries pay his tariffs directly, the burden actually falls to American importers, which must contend with tighter profit margins, weigh raising prices for consumers or seek discounts from their foreign suppliers.
“All of that new revenue is just a tax on US businesses,” Jonathan Gold, vice-president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, wrote in a LinkedIn post last Friday.
At the Rose Garden ceremony on April 2, the Trump administration announced steeper levies on more than 50 trading partners ranging as high as 50%, a shock to the economic outlook that sent financial markets into a tailspin.
A week later, the President suspended those peak rates.
The negotiating tracks have been different for the United States’ three largest trading partners: Mexico, Canada and China. — Bloomberg
Another threat to get countries to come to the negotiation table. Only an indication Trump will go TACO.
Katy Kay and Anthony Scaramouchi, who predicted Trump and Elon Musk will get on each other in 6 months of the Presidency, are predicting he will chicken out by August 1st.
Market is talking such but off course, policymaker cannot act on mere political or market watchers prediction.
In the meantime, Trump's tariff stunt is liberating other countries as they are beginning to talk to each other. In the long run, it means by-passing the US and US dollar.
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