Trump to impose tariffs on 150 countries

President Donald Trump announced that he will send a joint letter to some 150 countries establishing a single tariff applicable to all of them.

Trump did not specify the new tariff. For now, all these countries pay an additional base tariff of 10% to US customs since Trump set that rate in April.

In addition, in recent weeks, Trump has established differentiated tariffs, ranging from 25 to 40%, for more than two dozen nations.

These include Vietnam (20%), Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia (25%), Mexico (30%), Canada (35%), the Philippines and Cambodia (36%), and Laos and Myanmar (40%).

All of these tariffs have some exceptions and will apply, with the exception of Mexico and Canada, to most products. The tariff increase is scheduled for August 1.

“It's going to be the same for everyone, for that group,” Trump told reporters at a meeting with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the White House. “They are not big countries and they don't do much business. Not like the ones we have agreed with, like China and Japan.”

Trump had previously indicated that the new base tariff for those 150 nations could be between 15 and 20 percent.

Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs on most U.S. imports. However, the measure generated immediate reactions.

Several parties filed lawsuits. They argued that the IEEPA does not give the president the power to apply such tariffs. In May, two federal district courts ruled in their favor. They ruled that Trump exceeded his legal authority.

The cases V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States and Learning Resources, Inc. v. Donald Trump set the precedent. The V.O.S. Selections ruling also included the State of Oregon's lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.

For now, the court decisions are on hold while higher courts review appeals filed by the federal government.