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Key Points
- Donald Trump has declared tariffs on Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and other countries.
- The EU has been spared for now, but faces the threat of 17 per cent tariffs on food and agriculture exports.
- Only the UK and Vietnam have reached trade deals ahead of the 9 July deadline.
Trump had said on the weekend he would send a first batch of letters to countries informing them he would reimpose harsh levies that were postponed earlier in April.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump would sign an order later in the day to delay his original 9 July deadline for steeper tariffs to take effect — postponing their imposition to 1 August.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said besides Japan and South Korea, there would be approximately 12 other trading partners receiving letters from Donald Trump soon. Source: Getty / Andrew Harnik
Leavitt said besides Japan and South Korea, there would be approximately 12 other partners receiving letters from Trump soon.
Amid market turmoil, he then suspended the initial tariffs for 90 days, a deadline that would have expired Wednesday without the latest extension.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said there would be a number of deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”
On whether he was disappointed in the number of trade deals achieved so far, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro maintained he is “happy with the progress we’ve had”.