Trump hikes tariffs on Japan, South Korea starting Aug. 1
President Donald Trump is placing additional tariffs on imports from countries including Japan and South Korea as part of a delayed tariff initiative starting Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
In a series of posts on his social network known as Truth Social, Trump shared official letters he has sent to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand.
The letters announce that starting Aug. 1, imports to the U.S. from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, and Tunisia will be subject to a 25% tariff.
In addition, goods imported from South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive a 30% tariff, and imports from Indonesia will have a 32% levy placed on them. Products shipped from Bangladesh and Serbia will face a tariff rate of 35%, with a 36% rate planned for Cambodia and Thailand. Goods imported from Laos and Myanmar will face a 40% tariff rate.
The letters state that the tariffs are necessary to help remediate existing trade imbalances between the U.S. and those countries, and that any additional tariffs imposed on goods from the U.S. will be tacked onto the new tariff rates.
The higher levies will also apply to any imports which are “transshipped” (sent to the U.S. via a third country to evade the tariff rates). Trump also said in the letter that if affected countries eliminate the duties they place on goods from the U.S. could lower tariffs on their imports in return.
The new tariff rates being imposed on Japan and South Korea are almost the same or identical as reciprocal tariffs Trump placed on imports from most countries on April 2 (24% for Japan and 25% for South Korea).
Those reciprocal tariffs were initially delayed from going into effect until Wednesday, July 9. The White House has indicated that delay will be extended until Aug. 1 for all countries scheduled to have their tariffs increased.
[READ MORE: Trump pauses most reciprocal tariffs]
The White House has also said that an unspecified number of additional tariff letters are scheduled for release to the leaders of other nations this week.
U.S. tariff policy – a review
On Feb. 13, 2025, President Trump announced a plan to apply reciprocal tariffs on imports that equal any tariffs or other levies put on those products from the U.S. by other countries as of Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025.
That plan, which initially went into effect Saturday, Apr. 5. placed a baseline 10% tariff on all goods being imported to the U.S. from other countries, as well as 25% tariff on all imported automobiles.
The 10% baseline did not apply to Canada and Mexico, which are already paying a 25% levy on products they import to the U.S. On May 12, 2025, Trump reached an agreement with China that removed additional tariffs the U.S. placed on most imported Chinese goods on April 8 and 9, 2025 for 90 days.
Those included a 125% additional levy on imports from China that brought the total tariff on some Chinese products to as high as 145%. Trump previously announced the U.S. and China had reached a preliminary trade agreement and would negotiate a permanent pact before the 90-day pause runs out in August.
Trump also reached an agreement in May with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer that will increase U.S. access to U.K. markets while limiting tariffs on U.K. imports.
