Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that August 1 is the deadline for countries to start paying tariffs to the United States, but he also said, "Countries can still talk to us after August 1 without any restrictions." When asked about the deadline for EU tariffs, Lutnick said on CBS News: "This is a hard deadline, so on August 1, the new tariff rates will officially take effect."
The deadline for the tariff policy has changed several times since President Donald Trump announced hefty tariffs on trading partners on April 2, but White House officials now insist that August 1 is a firm deadline.
"Countries can still talk to us after August 1 without any restrictions, but they will start paying tariffs from August 1," Lutnick said.
Lutnick said some smaller countries, "like Latin American countries, countries in the Caribbean and many countries in Africa" would face a 10% baseline tariff.
Lutnick's comments may come as a relief to countries anxiously awaiting a clear decision from Trump on tariff rates. Trump has recently suggested that base tariff rates for these countries could exceed 10%.
President Trump announced last week that letters would soon be sent to small countries. "We'll probably set a uniform tariff rate for all of these countries... probably a little over 10 percent," Trump said.
Lutnick also added that "larger economies must either open their markets to the United States or pay reasonable tariffs to the United States."
Lutnick's comments came after Trump sent letters to trading partners earlier this month informing them of new tariff rates, which in some cases were as high as 40%.
The letters, which Trump posted on his "Real Social" platform, said the tariffs would take effect on August 1, prompting trading partners to engage in final negotiations for lower rates.