Countries that haven’t negotiated a trade deal with the US by midnight on August 1 (US Eastern Central Time) are set to hear from the Trump administration about whether they’ve been hit with a new round of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ when a 90-day deadline closes.

Australia wasn’t subjected to reciprocal taxes by the US, but, with other nations, was hit with a 10 per cent baseline tariff on April 5.

A worry for exporters, though, is that Trump has suggested over past weeks the baseline figure for Australia and other countries could climb to maybe 15 per cent or even 20 per cent.

No deal has been struck between Australia and the United States, however there is a free trade agreement between the two countries.

The Australian government says it is monitoring the issue, but Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have not spoken directly about the issue.

The Trump administration says up to 200 countries have reached out seeking a trade deal.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Thursday’s news briefing that Trump “at some point this afternoon or later this evening” would sign an order to impose new rates starting at 12.01am on Friday.

Countries that had not received a prior letter from Trump or negotiated a framework would be notified of their likely tariff rates, either by letter or executive order, she said.

Shortly before the Friday deadline for the tariffs beginning, Trump said he would enter into a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico, one of the nation’s largest trading partners, with the current 25 per cent tariff rates staying in place, down from the 30 per cent he had threatened earlier.

The unknowns created a sense of drama that have defined Trump’s rollout of tariffs over several months, with the one consistency being his desire to levy the import taxes that most economists say will ultimately be borne to some degree by US consumers and businesses.

Trump imposed the Friday deadline after his previous “Liberation Day” tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic. His unusually high tariff rates unveiled in April led to recession fears, prompting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period.

When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he extended the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, prompting a slew of hasty deals.

Trump reached a deal with South Korea on Wednesday, and earlier with the European Union, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.