A looming deadline to make trade deals doesn’t necessarily matter, President Trump said Sunday, because the U.S. will simply send letters to hundreds of countries assigning tariff rates.
Why it matters: The pause on Trump’s sweeping global tariffs expires in about 10 days, with one deal and one temporary truce in hand, and the rest of the world in varying states of limbo.
What they’re saying: “We made deals, but I’d rather just send them a letter, a very fair letter, saying ‘congratulations, we’re going to allow you to trade in the United States of America, you’re going to pay a 25% tariff, or 20%, or 40 or 50%.’ I would rather do that,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Asked about extending the pause, Trump said “I don’t think I’ll need to. I could, there’s no big deal.”
- “What I wanted to do is, and what I will do just — sometime prior to the 9th — is we’ll send a letter to all these countries,” he added.
How it works: “I’m going to send letters. That’s the end of the trade deal,” Trump said, giving U.S. ally Japan as an example.
- “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars,” he said.
- Trump said letters would go out “pretty soon” and that “we don’t have to meet. We understand, we have all the numbers.”
Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/06/29/trump-tariffs-pause
But I thought there were already “200 deals”? 