WILLIE JAMES INMAN:
00:00:38
The Trump administration is expected to send dozens of letters this week to countries that have not made a deal with the US. President Trump is going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that if you don't move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level. We're going to send out probably a hundred letters to small countries where we don't have very much trade. And most of those are already at the baseline 10%.
WILLIE JAMES INMAN:
00:01:07
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the administration is primarily focused on nations with the largest trade deficits with the US. There are 18 important trading relationships that account for 95% of our deficit. And those are the ones we're concentrating on.
WILLIE JAMES INMAN:
00:01:25
Trump's so-called higher reciprocal tariffs could impact dozens of nations. Major trading partners, such as Japan, India, and the European Union, have initiated talks. But final deals remain in flux. So far, the White House has made significant progress with only a handful of nations, including the UK, China, and Vietnam. Our smaller trading partners could become much bigger trading partners. And that's, I think, one of the reasons why countries are racing to set deals up with us ahead of the deadline. Jericka, the president says he thinks that nations will either have a letter or a deal by this Wednesday.
JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:02:03
All right, we'll see what happens. Willie James Inman, thank you.
