US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that changes reciprocal tariff rates for dozens of countries ahead of his self-imposed August 1 deadline for a trade deal.
The order changes “reciprocal tariff rates for certain countries to further address our growing, annual U.S. trade deficit in goods,” the White House said in a statement.
The new tariffs range from 10 percent to 41 percent, with the highest tariff on Syria. The European Union, Japan and South Korea will be subject to tariffs of 15 percent.
In the region, Serbia will be subject to a 35 percent tariff, down from the previously announced 37 percent, and the tariff on goods from North Macedonia has been reduced from 33 percent to 15 percent.
The tariffs also include Bosnia and Herzegovina, for which the rate remains unchanged at 30 percent.
The previous tariff, announced in April and scheduled to take effect for Bosnia and Herzegovina last night, was 35 percent.
Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania, it said, were hit with a “universal” 10 percent tariff.
Croatia and Slovenia, as members of the European Union, were covered by an earlier agreement between Washington and Brussels that provided for 15 percent tariffs.
“This decisive action reflects the President’s continued efforts to protect the United States from foreign threats to the national security and economy of the United States by ensuring fair, balanced and reciprocal trade relations that benefit American workers, farmers and manufacturers and by strengthening the United States’ defense industrial base,” it added.
The new rates take effect on August 7, giving negotiators a window of time to reach an agreement.
The order said some of the affected countries had “agreed to, or are in the process of entering into, significant trade and security agreements with the United States” and would be subject to increased tariffs until their deals are finalized.
Trump had previously said his administration had reached “a few” agreements, but offered no further details. It was not clear which nations Trump was referring to when he spoke to reporters at the White House.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on countries around the world on April 2, later establishing a base rate of 10 percent that would be imposed on countries while individual negotiations continue. He set an Aug. 1 deadline for nations to reach agreements with his negotiating team or face increased import tariffs.
A separate order signed by Trump will raise the tariff on Canada from 25 percent to 35 percent on Aug. 1.
Most nations received tariff rates between 15 and 30 percent, but Serbia, Iraq (35%), Laos (40%), Myanmar (40%), Switzerland (39%), and Syria (41%) were marked with higher rates.
