Trump rules out tariff suspension period extension

And the U.S. leader has reaffirmed his resolve against an extension in the pause on country-specific tariffs following his self-imposed deadline next week.

Our Moon Hye-ryeon has more.

With the suspension period on tariffs set to expire soon, U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that he has no plans to extend the deadline, and that new trade penalties for some countries may soon take effect.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, he singled out Japan after taking to social media the day before to criticize Tokyo for refusing to import American rice despite facing a domestic shortage.

"So what I'm going to do is I'll write them a letter and say, 'we thank you very much and we know you can't do the kind of things that we need and therefore you pay a 30%, 35% or whatever the numbers that we determine,' because we also have a very big trade deficit with Japan "

On the other hand, he said a deal to reduce the 26 percent tariff rate for India to "much less" is on the table, after Indian officials extended a visit to the White House last week.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News prior to this statement that the two countries are close to making a deal that lowers levies for both parties.

India is one of 57 named countries targeted by country-specific mutual tariffs announced back in April, before they were pushed back for a 90-day negotiation period.

During that period, Washington has pushed for talks focused on tariff rates, trade imbalances, and non-tariff barriers.

Only the UK has been able to negotiate a limited trade deal with the Trump administration so far, accepting a 10 percent U.S. tariff on certain items in exchange for special access to aircraft engines and British beef.

Going forward, the Trump administration is reportedly planning meetings with its trade team to set tariff rates for individual countries as the July 9th deadline approaches.

The U.S. Director of the National Economic Council revealed on Monday that the U.S. President will review tariff plans for each country, while Bessent warned that tariffs could remain high for countries that do not cooperate.

Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.