US President Donald Trump has set new retaliatory tariff rates for seven additional countries. On Wednesday, Trump sent official letters to the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, and Sri Lanka, notifying them of the new measures.
Earlier this week, on Monday, he had sent similar letters to 14 other countries. This brings the total number of countries receiving new tariff notices to 21 within the same week.
Trump made the announcement on Wednesday through his own social media platform, Truth Social. On Tuesday evening, he had hinted that a list of “at least seven countries” would be published the following morning, with a few more expected in the evening. However, the list was ultimately limited to just seven.
The new tariff rates are as follows: 20 percent on goods from the Philippines (previously 17 percent), 25 percent on Brunei (previously 24 percent), 25 percent on Moldova (down from 31 percent), 30 percent on Algeria (unchanged), 30 percent on Iraq (previously 39 percent), 30 percent on Libya (previously 31 percent), and 30 percent on Sri Lanka (previously 44 percent).
For all 21 countries that have received letters so far, tariff rates have been set between 20 and 40 percent.
The letters state that the United States “may” review the new rates in the future, depending on its relationship with each respective country.
All of the letters include a note that the newly imposed tariffs are lower than what is “necessary” — meaning they fall short of the levels required to eliminate trade deficits with those countries.
Trump has often argued that trade deficits amount to cheating the United States, although many experts disagree with this interpretation.
Many of the nations targeted are significantly smaller economies than the US, and their trade deficits are relatively minor.
For example, US government data shows that the trade deficit with Moldova in 2024 was just $85 million.
Most of the new tariffs are close to those announced on April 2 under Trump’s “Independence Day” tariff package. In several cases, the rates have now been lowered.
Following the original announcement, global markets experienced a period of turbulence. As the situation worsened, Trump temporarily suspended those tariffs for 90 days.
That pause was due to end on Wednesday. However, on Monday, Trump issued an executive order delaying the implementation date to August 1.
In another post on Tuesday, Trump stated that “there will be no changes to the August 1 deadline.” He emphasized, “No more time will be given.”
On Monday, Trump had already sent tariff letters to 14 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
