‘No Extensions’: Trump Issues Tariff Ultimatum To 14 Nations, Payments Due August 1
US President Donald Trump has issued a stern ultimatum to 14 countries, including key Asian trading partners Japan and South Korea, declaring that new, steep tariffs on their goods will come into effect on August 1 with “no extensions.”
In a post written in all caps on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump intensified his global trade war, signaling an end to negotiations with a new hardline stance. “TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025,” he wrote. “There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. No extensions will be granted.”
The announcement formalizes the tariff rates for the first wave of countries targeted by his administration’s new trade policy. The highest tariffs, at 40%, will be imposed on Laos and Myanmar.
Other nations on the list include Thailand and Cambodia (36%), Bangladesh and Serbia (35%), Indonesia (32%), South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina (30%), while Malaysia, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, and Kazakhstan will all face a 25% tariff on their goods exported to the US.
The move comes ahead of a July 9 deadline, when a 90-day suspension of additional tariffs was set to expire. The letters containing these “take it or leave it” offers mark a shift away from comprehensive negotiations towards unilateral action by the Trump administration.
Trump also issued a sharp warning against any form of retaliation. He stated that if countries like Japan and South Korea respond by raising their own tariffs on US goods, those hikes would be added on top of the new 25% US tariff, rather than offsetting it.
The firm deadline appears to contradict slightly softer remarks made by Trump earlier, where he had suggested he was open to “adjust a little bit” for countries that offered further concessions. However, the latest all-caps message suggests that the time for negotiation is over for this group of 14 nations, setting the stage for a significant impact on global trade and supply chains from next month.
