Trump Announces 25% Tariffs on Japan and South Korea Starting August 1

Odaily Planet Daily News: U.S. President Trump has announced that, starting August 1, a 25% tariff will be imposed on goods imported from Japan and South Korea. This move marks the beginning of the U.S. government's unilateral tariff policy against countries that have not yet reached a trade agreement with the United States. These two Asian countries are the first targets of the trade demand letters and agreements that the Trump administration pledged to intensively issue this Monday. In his second term, Trump is accelerating the reform of U.S. trade policy, continuing to create uncertainty for markets, central bank officials, and corporate executives. All parties are struggling to assess the impact of this policy on production, inventory, hiring, inflation, and consumer demand—even without such abrupt tariff changes, routine business planning is already challenging. According to the letter released by Trump, the tariff levels for Japan and South Korea are basically in line with his previous warnings. Trump initially imposed a 24% tariff on Japan and a 25% tariff on South Korea. After what he called a 90-day postponement for reciprocal tariffs, Trump reduced these tariffs to 10% to allow time for negotiations.