Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the U.S. will begin sending out tariff letters to around 100 countries this week, as the Trump administration’s 90-day pause on tariff enforcement is set to expire on Wednesday.
“If you don’t move things along, then on August 1 you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Bessent told CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash, referring to trading partners that haven’t reached deals.
President Trump has floated the idea that these letters will outline tariff rates ranging from the current 10% baseline up to as high as 70%, although Bessent clarified Sunday that such high rates won’t be imposed on key trade partners.
“We’re gonna be sending letters out on Monday having to do with the trade deals. Could be 12, maybe 15 … and we’ve made deals, also,” Trump told CNN’s Betsy Klein on Sunday at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey.
He added that more letters will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday, aiming to finish the process by July 9. “We’ll have most countries done by July 9 — either a letter or a deal,” Trump said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, appearing alongside Trump on Sunday, confirmed that new tariff levels will take effect on August 1. “The president is right in the midst of discussing all sorts of deals with all sorts of countries,” Lutnick said.
Bessent declined to name which countries were close to reaching deals but said that many of the roughly 100 letters will go to smaller nations “where we don’t have very much trade” and which are already operating under the 10% baseline.
On Friday, Trump touted the letters as a “better” option for countries that have not finalized agreements before the July 9 window closes.
Back in April, Trump had announced a full three-month pause on what he called “reciprocal” tariffs, arguing at the time that the U.S. needed breathing room while negotiations played out. He told Time magazine later that month that he had already completed 200 deals, though specifics were sparse.
To date, the White House has only formally confirmed trade arrangements with three countries:
- The United Kingdom, which will maintain a 10% tariff rate.
- China, which agreed to temporarily scale back tariffs on most goods from 145% to 30%.
- Vietnam, which accepted a 20% minimum tariff on its exports.
When asked whether those were merely frameworks, Bessent said the upcoming letters would “set their tariff rates,” adding, “So we will have 100 done in the next few days.”
He emphasized that many countries haven’t even reached out to the U.S., but that the administration holds the upper hand. “We have the leverage in this situation,” he said, citing the U.S. trade deficit.
Bessent rejected the idea that August 1 is a new deadline, instead framing it as a firm implementation date. “It’s not a new deadline. We are saying, ‘This is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,’” he said. He pointed to the European Union, which came to the table after Trump floated a 50% tariff threat on EU imports, as an example of the strategy working.
Economists have warned that the widening trade war could lead to price increases for consumers, particularly due to sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports. Companies like Walmart have already said they may raise prices despite opposition from the Trump administration.
But Bessent downplayed inflation risks. “We have seen no inflation so far,” he said on Fox News Sunday, calling concerns “misinformation” and labeling critics as suffering from “tariff derangement syndrome.”
While U.S. wholesale prices ticked up in May—largely due to rising goods costs—the tariff impact was limited. The Producer Price Index showed a 0.1% increase in May, nudging the annual inflation rate to 2.6%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
