The Trump administration announced its new trade policy and its tariff plan on Thursday, just hours before the August 1 trade deadline.
On Thursday night, the Trump White House announced that a “universal” tariff for goods coming into U.S. will remain at 10 percent. That is the same level that President Donald Trump set during his “Liberation Day” even in early April when he first announced the tariffs.
However, that 10 percent rate will only apply to countries with a trade surplus — in other words, countries to which the U.S. exports more than it imports.
A senior administration official told the Associated Press that most countries have trade surpluses with the U.S.
The new tariff policy will not go into effect on Friday. Trump has delayed the tariffs for another week, until August 7, reportedly to give U.S. Customs and Border Protection time to make changes in how it policies incoming goods and to collect the new duties from imports.
