On Monday local time, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to extend the pause on "reciprocal tariffs" from July 9 to August 1.
In addition to the delay, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on July 6 that President Trump will send letters to trade partners this week to inform them of the tariff rates the U.S. plans to impose. For countries that fail to reach a trade agreement with the U.S. by August 1, the tariff rates will revert to the "reciprocal tariffs" levels announced in April.
Trump said Monday on social media that 25-percent tariffs will be imposed on imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), respectively, beginning August 1.
Later on, he announced that similar letters were sent to the leaders of 12 other countries, namely Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia, Thailand and Tunisia, informing them that tariffs ranging 25 percent to 40 percent will be charged starting next month.
On April 2, Trump announced the imposition of so-called "reciprocal tariffs," triggering a sharp decline in U.S. financial market value. Under mounting pressure, Trump announced on April 9 a 90-day delay in imposing high "reciprocal tariffs" on certain trade partners, while maintaining a 10 percent "baseline tariff."
Trump to extend pause on "reciprocal tariffs" to Aug 1
Trump to extend pause on "reciprocal tariffs" to Aug 1
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
