U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick spoke at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on July 15, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Business Secretary Howard Lutnik Say Sunday August 1 It is the beginning of the country USAbut said: “There is nothing to stop the country from talking to us after August 1.”
“It’s a tough deadline, so on August 1, new tariff rates will appear,” Lutnik said. CBS NewsWhen asked about his deadline Tariffs on the EU.
president Donald Trump’s The tariff deadline has been transferred since he announced a huge tax on trading partners April 2but White House officials now insist that August 1 is a solid deadline.
“There is nothing to stop countries from talking to us after August 1, but they will start paying tariffs on August 1,” Lutnik said.
Lutnik said that some small countries, “Latin American countries, Caribbean countries, many African countries” have a benchmark tariff of 10%.
Lutnick’s comments could make countries anxiously await a decision on Trump’s tariff rates, which recently suggested that the benchmark tariff rates could exceed 10%.
The president announced last week that a letter to smaller countries will be sent soon. “We might set a tariff for everyone …it could be slightly above 10%,” Trump said.
“Biger economies will open themselves up, or they will pay fair tariffs to the United States,” Lutnick added.
Lutnick’s comments were earlier this month Trump Send letters to trading partners Notify them of new tariff rates, which are as high as 40% in some countries.
A letter posted on Trump’s Truth Society said the tariffs will take effect on August 1, prompting trading partners to seek last-minute negotiations for lower interest rates.
