‘US close to trade deal with India’, Donald Trump announces amid new tariffs on 14 countries

Source: Mint | Original Published At: 2025-07-08 01:02:13 UTC

Key Points

• Donald Trump announced the US is 'close' to finalizing a trade deal with India.
• Tariffs of 25-40% announced for 14 countries including Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.
• EU excluded from tariff letters as trade negotiations continue with Ursula von der Leyen.
• Threat of additional tariffs if countries retaliate with their own trade measures.
• Tariffs target steel, aluminum, and auto sectors in key Asian trading partners.

United States President Donald Trump has again stated that the country is “close” to signing a trade deal with India, even as he on July 7 revealed tariffs on some 14 countries, including major Asian trading partners Japan and South Korea.

This also comes after the US president warned BRICS leaders of additional 10 per cent tariffs if they adopt “anti-American” policies. The bloc includes developing countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia, among others.

US-India trade deal: ‘We are close…’ says Donald Trump Talking to reporters about the tariff letters sent to various countries, Donald Trump said, “…We are close to making a deal with India. We’ve made a deal with the United Kingdom. We’ve made a deal with China.”

“Others we met with, and we don’t think we’re going to be able to make a deal, so we just send them a letter. We’re sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay. Some will maybe adjust a little bit depending if they have a cause, we’re not going to be unfair about it…” he added.

WATCH: Donald Trump on US-India trade deal

Trump tariff letters: Threat against retaliation, open to talks, more… Donald Trump on July 7 notified US trade partners that higher tariffs will begin from August 1 this year, in 14 letters sent to countries including Japan, South Korea, Serbia, Thailand and Tunisia, according to a Reuters report.

Notably, for South Korea and Japan, the 25 per cent tariff is in addition to the levies for auto, steel, and aluminium, the report added.

He also hinted at being open to deals and negotiations, but warned of consequences if the countries addressed retaliated with their own tariffs, it said. “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25 per cent that we charge,” Donald Trump said in letters, released on his Truth Social platform, to Japan and South Korea.

Asked if the deadline was firm, Donald Trump was flexible, “I would say firm, but not 100 per cent firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”

Trump tariff rates: Who has to pay how much? Donald Trump said the US would impose:

25 per cent tariffs on goods from Japan, South Korea, Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan;

30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina;

32 per cent on Indonesia;

35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh;

36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand, and

40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. Notably, sources told Reuters that the EU will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs, and trade deal talks are ongoing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.