Donald Trump announces 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea in letters released on social media – US politics live | Trump administration
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Trump announces 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea
Donald Trump has released letters to the leaders of Japan and South Korea, announcing new 25% tariffs on both nations’ exports to the United States and higher levies on goods transshipped through the countries.
The letters appear to be the first that administration officials planned to release today outlining new tariffs on major trading partners.
The letters to Japan’s prime minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean president Lee Jae Myung are very similar. Here’s what Trump wrote to Shigeru and posted on Truth Social:
We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with Japan, and have concluded that we must move away from these longterm, and very persistent, Trade Deficits engendered by Japan’s Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers. Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal. Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Japan a Tariff of only 25% on any and all Japanese products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs. Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff. Please understand that the 25% number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country. As you are aware, there will be no Tariff if Japan, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely - In other words, in a matter of weeks.
Key events
European ambassadors briefed on draft US trade deal
Lisa O'Carroll
EU ambassadors are currently being briefed about the draft framework deal that seems to have been agreed over the weekend with the Trump administration.
It will extend the period of negotiation, avoiding the threatened 50% tariffs on exports, but mean Trump’s blanket 10% tariff will stay.
Ireland’s prime minister says the deal is about creating a “stable space” for further negotiations.
The taoiseach Micheál Martin said such a high level agreement would avoid retaliatory measures and escalation of a trade war.
It “would leave space for further discussions” he said adding it would create “a deal of clarity”.
The prime minister was speaking after a call with European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Monday morning, European time.
A diplomatic source said the deal is “far from ideal”, but it means that the EU can now try and “control the controllable”.
In addition to announcing new tariffs on South Korea and Japan, Donald Trump also threatened both countries with higher levies if they retaliate with their own trade measures.
From his letter to South Korea’s president Lee Jae Myung:
If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge. Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Korea’s Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!
There’s a certain tone to his letters, one that indicates a deal can be done if both countries accede to his trade demands. From his letter to Lee:
We look forward to working with you as your Trading Partner for many years to come. If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter. These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country. You will never be disappointed with The United States of America.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Donald Trump said that starting today, he’ll send “12, maybe 15” letters to major trading partners announcing new tariffs.
We’ve now seen two letters, to the leaders of Japan and South Korea. We’ll let you know what else Trump announces.
Trump announces 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea
Donald Trump has released letters to the leaders of Japan and South Korea, announcing new 25% tariffs on both nations’ exports to the United States and higher levies on goods transshipped through the countries.
The letters appear to be the first that administration officials planned to release today outlining new tariffs on major trading partners.
The letters to Japan’s prime minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean president Lee Jae Myung are very similar. Here’s what Trump wrote to Shigeru and posted on Truth Social:
We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with Japan, and have concluded that we must move away from these longterm, and very persistent, Trade Deficits engendered by Japan’s Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers. Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal. Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Japan a Tariff of only 25% on any and all Japanese products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs. Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff. Please understand that the 25% number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country. As you are aware, there will be no Tariff if Japan, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely - In other words, in a matter of weeks.
The White House has made a last-minute addition to its schedule in the form of a briefing set for 1pm by press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt will field questions from reporters in attendance, and we can only guess at what she’ll try to focus their attention on. Expect questions about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit today, if federal job cuts made the disaster in Texas worse and what to make of Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.
Donald Trump has openly mused about investigating the citizenship of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. As the Guardian’s Robert Tait reports, the threat is part of a new trend that has seen the president question the immigration status of his detractors:
Threats of retribution from Donald Trump are hardly a novelty, but even by his standards, the US president’s warnings of wrathful vengeance in recent days have represented a dramatic escalation.
In the past week, Trump has threatened deportation, loss of US citizenship or arrest against, respectively, the world’s richest person, the prospective future mayor of New York and Joe Biden’s former homeland security secretary.
The head-spinning catalogue of warnings may have been aimed at distracting from the increasing unpopularity, according to opinion surveys, of Trump’s agenda, some analysts say. But they also served as further alarm bells for the state of US democracy five and a half months into a presidency that has seen a relentless assault on constitutional norms, institutions and freedom of speech.
On Tuesday, Trump turned his sights on none other than Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who, before a recent spectacular fallout, had been his closest ally in ramming through a radical agenda of upending and remaking the US government.
But when the Tesla and SpaceX founder vowed to form a new party if Congress passed Trump’s signature “one big beautiful bill” into law, Trump swung into the retribution mode that is now familiar to his Democratic opponents.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, menacing both the billions of dollars in federal subsidies received by Musk’s companies, and – it seemed – his US citizenship, which the entrepreneur received in 2002 but which Trump supporters such as Steve Bannon have questioned.
Tom Homan, the official who Donald Trump has named “border czar” and put in charge of his mass deportation plans, spoke briefly to reporters at the White House earlier today.
He was asked what he thought of comments from Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary in the New York City mayor’s race, that he would not cooperate with Homan’s efforts to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants living in the city.
“Good luck on that. We’re gonna be in New York City,” Homan replied.
Trump has threatened Mamdani since he emerged as the frontrunner to become mayor of the nation’s largest city. Here’s more on that:
Donald Trump logged on to Truth Social this morning to, randomly enough, post words of support for Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president who is on trial over an alleged coup plot.
“Brazil is doing a terrible thing on their treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro. I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year! He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE,” Trump wrote, adding “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!”
Bolsonaro took the stand to deny the allegations about a month ago:
Trial set to begin over Trump administration's ‘ideological-deportation policy’
One of the first major trials of Donald Trump’s policies is set to begin today, over his administration’s efforts to deport foreign students who take part in pro-Palestinian activism. Here’s more on what we can expect from the case, from the Guardian’s Alice Speri:
A lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to deport foreign students over pro-Palestinian views goes to trial in a Massachusetts federal court on Monday, where the government for the first time will need to defend its extraordinary position that it can deport noncitizens over their political speech.
The case was brought by the national American Association of University Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa) following the arrest and detention of several noncitizen students and scholars who have spoken out on Palestinian rights. The government has claimed the authority to deport noncitizens who have committed no crimes but whose presence it deems poses a threat to US foreign policy.
The case is the first of half-dozen legal challenges to the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on universities to make it to trial, with civil rights and education advocates asking the judge to declare the “ideological-deportation policy” unconstitutional and unlawful.
Those arrested as part of the government’s promised campaign against pro-Palestinian foreign students have all been released from immigration detention, with the last of them – Mahmoud Khalil – freed on 20 June. But they all continue to fight against efforts to deport them. Other students left the US or went into hiding to avoid arrest.
European leaders are meanwhile bracing for Donald Trump’s next move on tariffs, which may come as soon as today in the form of letters sent to countries letting them know how much they’ll have to pay to access the US market.
Our Business live blog is covering that side of the story, and you can read it here:
Trump trade advisor hails 'progress' as administration set to blow '90 deals in 90 days' deadline
Shortly after Donald Trump paused his disruptive “liberation day” tariffs last April, his top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, went on Fox Business Network to promise “90 deals in 90 days” with major trading partners.
It seemed a wildly unrealistic goal, considering such agreements can take months or years to hammer out. The 9 July deadline for those deals is nigh, and Washington has just two new trade deals – with the UK and Vietnam – to show for its efforts, and other White House officials have since downplayed the seriousness of that deadline.
Navarro appeared on CNBC this morning and was asked whether he was disappointed that the barrage of deals did not come to be. He replied:
I’m happy with with the progress we’ve had, because every country that we run a major deficit with is fully engaged. I think what we’re learning from the negotiations is simply … how difficult it is for these countries to give up the advantage they have over us.
We’re also live blogging the latest tragic news out of flood-stricken Texas, where confirmation arrived this morning of the deaths of 27 girls and counsellors at a summer camp.
You can follow along here:
We expect to get our first glimpse of Donald Trump at 4pm ET today, when he signs unspecified executive orders in the Oval Office, according to the White House schedule.
Reporters won’t be invited to that one, but that could always change – he often uses such occasions to hold forth to the press. After that, Trump is scheduled to greet Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, then have dinner with him, beginning at 6:30pm.
US to make several trade announcements in next 48 hours, treasury secretary says
The United States will make several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said this morning.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” Bessent told CNBC. “So it’s going to be a busy couple of days.”
It comes amid confusion over when the administration’s new tariff rates will come into effect. Donald Trump said the US would start delivering tariff letters from 12:00pm ET today, but they will apparently be delayed, going into effect on 1 August and not 9 July as previously expected.
Asked if the tariffs were coming into effect on 1 August or this week, Trump – helpfully – replied: “No, there are going to be tariffs, the tariffs, the tariffs are going to be, the tariffs. I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, yeah. Either a letter or a deal.”
The letters would not necessarily provide an ultimatum, according to Bessent. “It’s just ‘thank you for wanting to trade with the United States of America. We welcome you as a trading partner, and here’s the rate, unless you want to come back and try to negotiate,’” he said.
Bessent declined to comment on whether negotiations on new ownership of the TikTok short video app, which Trump also said would start this week, would be linked to trade talks with China.
He said he would meet with his Chinese counterpart in the next couple of weeks.
“I think there are things for us to do together if the Chinese want to do it, so we will discuss whether we are able to move beyond trade into other areas,” he told CNBC.
Trial to consider Trump’s ‘ideological-deportation policy’ targeting pro-Palestinian students
Alice Speri
Alice Speri is a journalist covering foreign policy, conflict and human rights
A lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to deport foreign students over pro-Palestinian views goes to trial in a Massachusetts federal court on Monday, where the government for the first time will need to defend its extraordinary position that it can deport noncitizens over their political speech.
The case was brought by the national American Association of University Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa) following the arrest and detention of several noncitizen students and scholars who have spoken out on Palestinian rights. The government has claimed the authority to deport noncitizens who have committed no crimes but whose presence it deems poses a threat to US foreign policy.
Mahmoud Khalil at a ‘Welcome Home’ rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on 22 June 2025. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/EPA
The case is the first of half-dozen legal challenges to the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on universities to make it to trial, with civil rights and education advocates asking the judge to declare the “ideological-deportation policy” unconstitutional and unlawful.
Those arrested as part of the government’s promised campaign against pro-Palestinian foreign students have all been released from immigration detention, with the last of them – Mahmoud Khalil – freed on 20 June.
But they all continue to fight against efforts to deport them. Other students left the US or went into hiding to avoid arrest.
