Donald Trump says he is poised to assign tariffs, announce new trade deals

President Trump will begin to announce nation-by-nation tariff levels and trade deals on Monday, ahead of a midweek deadline, and he threatened new levies on a multicountry bloc he labeled as “anti-American.”

Mr. Trump, writing on Truth Social, said he would send letters to individual countries starting at noon. He’s characterized the tariff amounts as the cost of doing business with the rich American consumer market.

The president in April paused hefty “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days to calm markets and allow space for trade negotiations. He landed deals with the U.K. and Vietnam and set the stage for more talks with China, but other countries are expected to face big tariffs again.

The levies won’t go into effect immediately, though Mr. Trump is locking in the numbers.

“Tariffs go into effect Aug. 1. But the president is setting the rates, and the deals, right now,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday.

Mr. Trump said more trade deals are coming — the White House circled India as a pact-in-progress — but the president said he prefers to just assign tariff numbers for most trading partners.

“It’s going to be a busy couple of days,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday on CNBC.

Alongside that process, he warned members of the BRICS intergovernmental organization and its allies they could face an add-on tariff.

“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The BRICS bloc consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran. It was formed to represent the global south, emerging markets and other areas that want to challenge global financial institutions dominated by the west.

The BRICS nations released a statement on Sunday voicing “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade”— likely a swipe at Mr. Trump’s policies.

Tariffs are a tax or duty paid by importers on goods they bring in from foreign markets.

Mr. Trump says tariffs are a great way to force companies to return to America or keep their operations in the U.S., employ American workers and create revenue to fund domestic programs.

Foreign countries don’t pay the tariffs directly to the U.S. Treasury. In many cases, U.S. companies will pay the levies, and they might pass on at least some of the cost to consumers through higher prices.

Mr. Trump is betting there would not be any serious inflation from his tariff policies and says the tariffs would work hand-in-hand with major legislation he signed Friday to cut taxes and spur American investment.