President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed that a new round of tariffs will take effect on August 1, brushing aside earlier signals of flexibility and warning trading partners that no further delays will be granted.
“TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025,” the president posted on Truth Social. “There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 — No extensions will be granted.”
The post followed a series of formal notifications sent by the White House to U.S. trading partners on Monday, outlining tariff rates set to be imposed on dozens of countries. Japan and South Korea were informed they would face 25 percent duties, while South Africa was hit with 30 percent, and Laos and Myanmar were assigned a 40 percent rate.
Although the letters made clear the new tariffs would be imposed unilaterally if negotiations failed, they were accompanied by an executive order delaying implementation until August 1 — effectively giving nations an additional three weeks to strike agreements. On Monday evening, Trump told reporters the deadline was “not 100 percent firm,” suggesting he remained open to further concessions.
That ambiguity raised doubts among some investors and Washington observers about whether the administration would ultimately follow through. Markets largely took the developments in stride, with the S&P 500 hovering near record highs on Tuesday despite the renewed tariff threats.
Trump initially unveiled the “reciprocal tariff” initiative on April 2, which the White House called Liberation Day. The Liberation Day plan called for permanent duties of between 25 percent and 40 percent on more than 50 countries unless they opened their markets to U.S. goods. Those higher rates were temporarily reduced to 10 percent for a 90-day negotiation period that had been set to expire this week. With only a handful of deals reached — most notably framework agreements with the United Kingdom and Vietnam — the administration has shifted toward imposing tariffs unilaterally.
The White House has also secured a truce with China, lowering bilateral tariff levels, though few details of that arrangement have been disclosed.
Trump has warned that any retaliation will be met with matching increases in duties. “If you raise tariffs on us,” the president said Monday, “we will raise ours by the exact same amount — immediately.”
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