On the Monday after Independence Day weekend, President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs returned to the spotlight as the suspension of country-specific reciprocal tariffs is set to expire on July 9. The President issued an Executive Order that extended the suspension of these tariffs to August 1, 2025 “based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners.” The order makes clear that the rates applicable to China, as previously reported, remain unaffected by the action.
Meanwhile, the President also sent letters to 14 trading partners announcing the rates that will apply to their goods, as summarized in the Table below. While more such letters and announced tariff rates are expected this week, Administration officials continue to suggest that deals could be struck with some countries with many eyes on India and the EU. Even the countries that have received tariff letters now have additional time to continue to negotiate through August 1. Major trading partners Japan and South Korea are reportedly continuing to engage, with autos, agriculture, defense spending and more issues on the table. The prospect of agreements being reached is unclear, but the extension of time allows for the possibility.
Last week the U.S. and Vietnam announced a trade deal that will result in U.S. imports into Vietnam being duty free. The President’s announcement on the agreement indicated “Vietnam will pay the United States a 20% Tariff on any and all goods sent into our Territory, and a 40% Tariff on any Transshipping.” The legal text of the reported agreement has not been released. Many have observed that the transshipping language raises questions because, under current law, goods which are transshipped through Vietnam are already subject to the tariffs applicable to their true country of origin. What is still unclear is whether the Vietnam agreement imposes some type of additional origin standard for shipments from Vietnam beyond the generally applicable substantial transformation standard. Notably, the tariff letters, which are largely uniform in their content, include the warning, “Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff.” This iteration of concerns about transshipping reflects longstanding law.
Tariff Letters Sent as of July 7, 2025
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